The Complicated Environmental Legacy Florida’s Next Governor Stands To Inherit

TALLAHASSEE, Florida — With just a few months left in his term, Gov. Ron DeSantis is declaring victory.

During his nearly eight years in office, the governor has helped secure nearly $9.5 billion in funding for water quality and Florida Everglades restoration. His administration’s environment department has acquired more than half a million acres for conservation. And despite positioning himself as a vocal opponent of “radical climate agendas,” he signed a law creating a program to make the state’s coastlines and inland waterways more resilient to sea level rise.

After campaigning — and winning — on a message of protecting Florida’s most beloved natural resources, DeSantis in recent months has highlighted his environmental record and celebrated his administration’s conservation policies.

“When someone tells you, ‘We’re gonna do this,’ and they articulate an ambitious agenda and then you see it brought to fruition, that’s how it should be all the time,” DeSantis said during an Everglades restoration press conference in September. “And that’s what I think a lot of people really appreciate about all those projects associated with this massive [Everglades] restoration effort.”

Yet although Florida’s environmental nonprofits and advocacy groups commend DeSantis for his administration’s accomplishments, some say his legacy on Florida’s natural resources is complicated — and most emphasize the work is not finished. Meanwhile, the two candidates battling to become the next governor — GOP Rep. Byron Donalds and Democrat David Jolly — are pledging to continue aspects of the governor’s environmental agenda even as untested issues bubble to the surface this election cycle.

In 2018, when DeSantis was seeking office, some of the Sunshine State's most beloved natural resources were in dire straits. Toxic blooms of blue-green algae carpeted Lake Okeechobee, while swaths of red tide washed dead fish, sea turtles and dolphins onto white sand beaches. The crisis fouled communities and spooked tourists, dealing a major blow to the state’s economy.

“This time, you've got a lot of affordability issues that people are concerned about,” said Eric Eikenberg, the CEO of the nonprofit Everglades Foundation. “But in 2018, in that governor's race, it was water. It was the algae. People were very much cognizant of what was taking place.”

DeSantis, who called himself a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican,” pledged to tackle water quality problems and protect the environment if elected — campaign promises that played a role in his eventual victory.

Eight years later, the reviews are mixed.

“He certainly did not ignore it, and he put effort into accomplishing what I think he was promising,” said Pat Rose, the executive director of Save the Manatee Club. “Can any candidate who becomes elected do everything they promise? But he certainly didn't shirk from it.”

When considering DeSantis’ environmental legacy, many environmental advocates point to the sheer amount of money his administration has funneled to Florida’s waterways. The governor has made annual ambitious budget requests for Everglades projects, and previously threatened to call lawmakers back for a special session if they failed to sufficiently fund the “River of Grass.”

Yet during a Cabinet meeting in late September, DeSantis implied that the Everglades might not need his aggressive funding tactics in future budget cycles.

“I don’t think we’re going to need to spend what I’ve spent on the Everglades, because we’ve gotten so much done,” DeSantis said, while adding that state Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert “may have something to say,” about it.

His statement fueled rising anxieties among some environmental advocates who fear that once DeSantis leaves office, the state government’s commitment to Everglades restoration will sputter. The EAA Reservoir, the multi-billion-dollar project that DeSantis often calls the “crown jewel” of Everglades restoration, is scheduled to be finished by 2029 after the state and federal government agreed to accelerate the timeline by five years. The reservoir, south of Lake Okeechobee, is designed to improve the quantity and quality of water flowing to the Everglades and Florida Bay while reducing harmful discharges to south Florida estuaries.

Gil Smart, the executive director of the grassroots environmental advocacy group VoteWater, said the reservoir’s completion may tempt DeSantis’ successor to declare Everglades restoration a done deal.

“If you take the view that that is the final piece of the puzzle, then once it's done, you can stand atop it, wave the flag, and say we did it,” he said. “But you have to look at what the system is doing at that point too.”

Completing the EAA Reservoir and associated projects are important, environmental advocates say, but it won’t be a blanket fix to Florida’s water woes. Smart said the next governor will need to tackle nutrient pollution issues, and whether the state should acquire more land for water storage and treatment for the Everglades.

And while most conservationists are appreciative of DeSantis’ Everglades work, several are quick to note the construction of “Alligator Alcatraz,” the notorious immigration detention center located in a national preserve that has since been shuttered, as a major stumble.

In response to a list of questions for this story, DeSantis press secretary Molly Best provided a detailed description of the governor’s environmental record, citing Everglades restoration, water quality, Florida Forever, coastal resilience projects and the removal of fluoride from public drinking water.

“As Governor, Ron DeSantis has prioritized conserving Florida's natural resources since his first day in office, recognizing the direct link between Florida's environment, our economic competitiveness, and quality of life,” Best said in a statement.

This election cycle, an algal bloom crisis isn’t looming over the gubernatorial election. Instead, voters are antsy about sprawling development gobbling up acres of land in once-rural areas of Florida. Data centers, which have sparked concerns among voters of water and electricity use, have also risen to the top of the issue list.

“The average Floridian is talking about growth and congestion and seeing their Old Florida disappear,” said Haley Busch, the outreach director with 1000 Friends of Florida. “I think the concept of data centers in rural areas has mobilized a big base of Floridians who are kind of putting two and two together with thinking about long-term planning.”

Jolly has pledged to pause hyperscale data center construction, and said that he would work to unwind some controversial development laws passed under DeSantis, including a 2025 bill that blocks local governments from imposing restrictive development regulations after a hurricane. Donalds has promised to protect Florida’s natural resources from data centers and overdevelopment, though he’s been criticized for accepting millions of dollars from real estate and data center interests.

Advocates identify growth management as one of the primary blights on DeSantis’ environmental record. Though his administration has secured hundreds of thousands of acres of conservation land through multiple programs, the governor also signed a slew of bills over the past eight years, such as the “Live Local Act,” that hamstrung local governments’ ability to regulate development.

“Live Local and other acts were designed to deliver more affordable housing, it hasn't,” Jolly said in an interview. “What we have seen is it's a giveaway to developers that have built the million-dollar condos and disrupted communities. It hasn't impacted workforce and affordable housing.”

Jolly said he wanted to continue DeSantis’ course on Everglades restoration and scale up the Florida Forever program if elected. Yet he also said that he would consider “nearly wholesale replacing” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, saying the commission consisted of “developers and trophy hunters.” Florida’s next governor would have the opportunity to appoint new commissioners during their term, who would be subject to state Senate approval.

Meanwhile, Donalds has positioned himself as someone willing to take up the mantle of DeSantis’ environmental agenda. During an event where he was endorsed by the Everglades Trust earlier this month, Donalds said he would continue the state’s financial investment in Everglades restoration, but said “our goal is to be done over the next four years,” before moving into a management stage.

“It’s not just about finishing the work, it’s about maintaining it, managing it, so it can continue to be beautiful,” he said.

A spokesperson for Donalds’ campaign did not respond to a list of questions about his environmental policies before publication.

Nick Wiley, the former executive director of FWC under Govs. Charlie Crist and Rick Scott, who now leads the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida, said balancing growth with managing the state’s environmental resources is a continual challenge that has “never been more front and center than it is right now.”

Yet no matter who succeeds DeSantis, Wiley emphasized any elected leader is likely to prioritize the environment because it is a “core Florida” value. Voters of all stripes support protecting Florida’s bountiful natural resources, which are tied closely to the state’s economic prosperity.

“I think Governor DeSantis has done a really nice job and really shown a lot of good leadership,” Wiley said, adding that “future governors don't have a choice but to embrace and show leadership in those things.”