Some people say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, but when it comes to north central Florida’s natural springs, other observers beg to differ.
"More people, more problems.”
Scrolling through Instagram, 57-year-old Helen Alison Rich was surprised to see a post on social media by the Florida State Parks Foundation sharing “big news,” as the account had captioned.
The post celebrated Ichetucknee Springs State Park’s appearance in a Forbes’ article highlighting six “hidden gem” state parks. That made Rich upset.
“Whenever the news puts something out there, people flock to it, kind of destroy it like locusts,” Rich said. “Forbes is doing a huge disservice to Florida’s natural springs.”
She commented on the post, calling such attention a “kiss of death.” And she was not alone. Other users chimed in with similar concerns.
However, the increasing popularity of the springs is not as bad as it sounds, said Ryan Smart, the executive director of the Florida Springs Council. The statewide advocacy group is dedicated to protecting and restoring Florida springs and spring-fed rivers.
“Ichetucknee is one of our best managed of the springs state parks,” Smart said. “While I can see concerns about more people maybe walking the trails and stuff like that, that doesn't raise a lot of concerns for me because we have those protections and quotas in place at the park.”
For example, the state park limits the number of kayaks and paddleboards that can launch from the north end, which Smart said is the shallower part and thus where most of the damage from foot traffic would occur in the river.
He said that the park is in even better condition now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. During quarantine, the park stopped allowing tubers to launch from the north end of the river to help revitalize the submerged aquatic vegetation.
One of the park’s main problems is increasing nitrate concentrations, which can block sunlight as algae grows. Experts like Smart said that restoration efforts to help mitigate such issues benefit from national exposure.
“We don't want to love our springs to death,” he said. “But I also believe that in order to protect something, you have to love it, and to love it, you have to experience it.”
But although the upper part of the river is protected by regulations, the lower end does not reap the same benefits.
Only 3.5 miles of the Ichetucknee River is protected by the state, according to the Florida State Parks website. The rest of it is surrounded by private property but “belongs to all of us,” said John Jopling, president of the Ichetucknee Alliance, a nonprofit focused on restoring the river and its springs. He is also part of the Florida Springs Council.
Jopling has seen the river change for around 50 years. His father bought a home along the unprotected lower end of the river when he was in high school.
“Lots of people that start tubing on the upper river in the park system continue down below,” Jopling said. “Plant life is really important, and it’s being really severely damaged, particularly by boating activity.”
Such activity in the springs includes kayaking and paddleboarding.
However, he said that despite these concerns, the state park itself has done its part in regulating the things it can control, like foot traffic. The more concerning issues are those that cannot be fixed at the park level.
“The problems with the Ichetucknee are really much bigger and outside the scope of what the park system does — the park system just manages who gets in the river and what tubes can be used,” Jopling said. “We've got problems with withdrawing too much water from the ground, and we've got problems with putting too much nitrate on the ground. Those are problems that the park system is not set up to manage, but the state of Florida could.”
Haley Moody, director of the Florida Springs Institute, agrees. The nonprofit organization she works for focuses on documenting Florida springs and educating people about them.
“The main problems that our springs are facing are pollution and over-pumping,” Moody said. ”The recreational impacts are sort of minor compared to those two major categories that are affecting the health of our springs.”
To tackle such issues, the Florida Springs Institute is moving toward a national heritage area designation for the state’s springs, which would provide a widespread educational campaign to help in restoration efforts.
Such projects would support the economic boom created by Ichetucknee and other springs around Florida.
According to a 2023 park report by Florida State Parks, Ichetucknee Springs State Park has an economic impact of over $27 million and supports over 350 local jobs. Statewide economic data for 2022-23 revealed that, in Florida overall, the direct economic impact of these parks adds up to $3.6 billion.
In the interest of Ichetucknee, Smart said that most people are already inclined to take care of it. However, he recognizes that regulations would make it easier on visitors to enjoy the state park.
“If we make it easy for them by having quotas, having restrictions on how to vacation, we can get a lot of the way there,” Smart said. “There's very little I've ever seen that's as beautiful as launching your kayak on the north end of Ichetucknee.”