TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) 鈥� The head of Florida鈥檚 environmental protection agency is stepping down two months after a to develop golf courses, pickleball courts and hotels at state parks was abandoned after sparking rare .
Shawn Hamilton is being replaced as secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection by Alexis Lambert, chief of staff of the state鈥檚 bond finance division, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' office announced in a news release Thursday.
Hamilton said in an email to state employees obtained by the that he was leaving to 鈥渢ransition to the private sector鈥� after more than three years leading the Florida DEP.
The department unveiled the plans for the in August and had planned a single hour of public hearings near the nine affected parks. Opposition to the initiative transcended party lines, as top Republican legislative leaders and members of Congress, including U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, raised questions, along with Democrats and environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the Cleo Institute.
DeSantis eventually announced that plans for the parks were going back to the .
The Associated Press
