Dutch_12078 wrote:



You do understand that you're telling the snowbird crowd you don't want our money coming into your state don't you. What we spend for state park sites is only a small part of what we spend at area businesses and attractions.

nickthehunter wrote:

That's a straw argument - I'm pretty sure the Florida residents spend as much money in florida as the snowbirds by about 5 times over.

JoeH wrote:



I agree... in 2010 I did a study of park occupancy during the snowbird season in south Florida ( e.g. Collier Seminole,Pennekamp,Long Key, Bahia Honda,Curry Hammock ) and the vast majority of sites were occupied by out of state residents. For example at Collier Seminole, on many of the days, over 90% were non-residents. This data was captured by site visits and from Reserve America reports. The results were presented to the then Director of State Parks, Don Forgione and staff. They then undertook a study and reviews confirming my findings. Due to political considerations, it never moved much forward other than continued discussions. I also pointed out that several counties in Florida offer preference in reservations to their county residents and that 18 other states offer some type of preference to their residents.

It's about time Florida did the same. Residents pay for the parks via taxes and should be able to use them. There are plenty of commercial campgrounds to accommodate visitors from other states.
To put it in perspective, there are only 3600 campsites in the state park system, that people are trying to reserve and there are well over 100,000 commercial campsites that those visitors can use.

Quote:

This area doesn’t strike me as a hot bed of campers nor home to very many big camping State Parks.

bucky wrote:

We can't afford $3K monthly sites.

padredw wrote:

We first stayed in a Florida State Park in 1962. It was then called "Fort Pickens State Park" but is now a part of the National Seashore. On that trip we traveled all around the perimeter of Florida with a tent--all the way down to the Everglade National Park on the Gulf side and back up on the Atlantic all the way up to Tomoka State Park. We were a young couple then traveling with a car and tent. We stayed mostly in Florida State Parks on that trip. We fell in love with Florida State Parks 60 years ago

Later, with our family, we spent weeks instead of days at our favorite parks with a larger tent: Fort Pickens, St. Andrews, Manatee Springs, etc. Upon retirement we became RV campers. Florida remained one of our favorite destinations. We have wonderful memories of staying in our trailer at St. Andrews and Fort Pickens.

I am now 90 years old; my wife is 87; but we have given up being able to spend even 4 or 5 days at St. Andrews--or probably any other state park in Florida. We are lucky to get 3 or 4 days at Fort Pickens National Park, and that is without such a law as this.

We don't blame anyone for this, certainly not the state of Florida or residents of Florida. The same thing has become true all over the country. It is certainly true of our popular state parks here in Texas. It is almost impossible to get a week at Tyler State Park here in East Texas, or in Inks Lake State Park in the Hill Country.

But for the state of Florida to take the step suggested by that Bill is an entirely different thing. The principle of reciprocity is important to "travelers" such as we still are more than it is to full timers. We travel from state to state with the feeling that we are guests, but we know that for people traveling to Texas we are the hosts. I suggest that should be the norm. I can just imagine if we get state after state making such distinctions and passing laws. I look back over 25 years of RV traveling (and 60 years of state park camping) with great appreciation of the hospitality of almost every state in the nation.

This law is not likely to affect the few years I have left to travel, but I think it would be a tragic decision and a terrible precedent for other states. Think carefully and remember to "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

Dennis Henderson wrote:



Thank you for the link. I agree that the majority of SUMMER campers are from Florida. No one else from up north in their right mind would want to come to camp in HOT Florida in the summer.

The reverse is true, however, for the great weather months of October, November, December, January, February and March. Out-of-staters and Canadians are in the majority.

Most other state parks around the country and many county parks give residents an advantage over non-residents. We are hoping for that to happen here with our Florida State Parks and our residents.

Denny and Cindy Henderson