By Joe Murphy
As the late author and environmental advocate Edward Abbey said, “The idea of wilderness needs no defense; it only needs defenders.”
The 2026 Florida legislative session is critically important to the future of public lands in our state. After threats to our state parks, backroom land deals that would swap away valuable conservation lands and an $83 million boondoggle purchase of four acres of sand in the Panhandle, the urgency this session is significant.
The empowering news is that Floridians demonstrated what we can do when united: We rallied against a plan to develop our state parks with golf courses, pickleball courts and hotels, and won! That spirit and passion must guide us again in 2026.
We must speak for, advocate for and unite behind our public lands during this current legislative session. We need to share our stories about public lands.
Bills come and go in the Legislature. They might start off well-intentioned and get gutted, mere shells of what they once were. Or a bad bill may, once amended, gain features that make it worth supporting. Bills change as they move through committees and can go from flawed to acceptable and back quickly. It’s not easy to keep track if you’re a citizen who has a full range of life responsibilities.
Luckily, the public can rely on the smart and talented conservation organizations that are on the ground in Tallahassee. They track these bills and regularly share details with the public, the media and decision-makers about which bills protect public lands, and which ones don’t.
Follow the websites and social media accounts of groups such as the Florida Native Plant Society, Sierra Club Florida, Audubon Florida, the Florida Springs Council and the Florida Wildlife Federation (among others) for the latest legislation to support and legislators to contact. Sign up for easy-to-use action alerts and share those with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors and fellow outdoor folks. There is power in numbers, and there is power in community.
Have fun, enjoy and explore public lands – and then seek to protect them. Be a loud and consistent voice for wild Florida. Tell your public lands stories.
Regularly post on social media that you support public lands. Write a letter to the editor of Florida publications. Share pictures, poems, artwork and memories created by visits to parks and preserves with decision-makers.
Email, call, fax, text or visit legislators in person. If you are not sure who represents you in the Florida Legislature, it is easy to discover. Visit https://www.flsenate.gov/senators and https://www.flhouse.gov/FindYourRepresentative.
There are three simple, consistent requests all of us must convey to our legislators regarding public lands.
First, we must demand that land preservation programs such Florida Forever are fully funded. They must be driven by sound conservation science, and open and transparent processes to decide what lands are acquired when. These programs work, if protected and fully funded.
Then, we must advocate for land management agencies to receive the funding required to manage public lands with the staff and equipment they need. Conservation science and the highest possible ecological use must drive management.
Lastly, we must protect our public lands from land swaps, being surplused or sold off, or being used as land for infrastructure projects. Public lands are not land banks for developers. Conservation dollars bought and managed them, and they should stay in public conservation use.
Public lands speak to the best in us. They keep the heart and soul in wild Florida. They connect us to nature and future generations. They are places where we bike, hunt, camp, fish, paddle, hike, watch wildlife and enjoy our families.
During this legislative session, we can explore wild places, seek renewal and inspiration, then share the stories of our adventures. At the end of the session, we will get only what we advocated and fought for. We must be and create the change we seek.
It is easy to think someone else will take care of it. That someone else is us. That someone else is you. Give voice to public lands, speak truth to power and let the conviction of your story carry the day.
So go out there and get some mud on you. Go out there and catch a mess of fish. Take the back road to the backwater. Sleep in a tent or cabin. Climb on your horse or ATV. Fill a backseat with your kids and grandkids and leave the devices behind.
You will be better for it. Florida will be better for it.
Joe Murphy is a native and lifelong Floridian who lives in Brooksville, along Florida’s Nature Coast. Follow Joe on Instagram @naturecoastjoe. Banner photo: A boardwalk winds through Eureka Springs Conservation Park in Tampa (iStock image).
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