Our guest is recently retired director of the Florida State Parks Eric Draper. Craig recently featured Draper in his Florida Phoenix column about the threat climate change presents the parks. We discuss our favorite parks, other challenges facing the system and how the parks are funded. If you're interested in helping out at a state park in your area, there are numerous "friends" groups you can contact. The Florida State Parks Foundation is another citizen-run organization dedicated to helping the parks.
Washington Oaks Gardens State Park, Palm Coast. Photo: floridastateparks.org.
Craig Pittman is the award-winning author of Oh, Florida!: How America’s Weirdest State Influences the Rest of the Country, The Scent of Scandal, Cat Tale, Manatee Insanity and The State You’re In, and co-author of Paving Paradise. Born in Pensacola, he graduated from Troy State University in Alabama, where his muckraking work for the student paper prompted an agitated dean to label him “the most destructive force on campus.” Since then he has covered a variety of newspaper beats and quite a few natural disasters, including hurricanes, wildfires and the Florida Legislature.
