In the final weeks of the legislative session, Florida environmental groups and advocates are calling for action on a “State Parks Preservation” bill, birthed after widespread outrage over now-dead development proposals. This weekend, Sierra Club of Florida is hosting “Love Fests” at more than a dozen state parks, rally-like events to show Floridians “across the political spectrum” want lawmakers to back a bolstered protection. ‘We're calling this a state park love fest because we want to share with our elected officials and also the public how much we all love and care about our state parks,” said Michael McGrath, lead organizer with Sierra Club of Florida. “We want to make sure that we don't have any our state parks implicated in the future, so this is really an incredible opportunity,” McGrath added. It comes as lawmakers in both chambers are considering a pair of bills that would among several measures, prevent certain kinds of developments in Florida state parks, and give more public notice on any proposed changes. “What Senate Bill 80 does is address this to make sure that we are preserving our state parks for what they were originally intended for,” said State Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) who introduced the legislation. In August, protests and outcry at state parks across Florida led to state officials scrapping the “Great Outdoors Initiative,” which would have built things like hotels, golf course, glamping sites and pickleball courts in several state parks. “I think we were all dismayed last summer when suddenly out of nowhere these plans were revealed,” said State Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) during a Senate committee hearing earlier this year.