Sugar company buyout for Everglades restoration approved by board

The state of Florida's buyout of U.S. Sugar Corp. to restore the Everglades is a step closer to reality after the South Florida Water Management District approved of the deal last week, according to the Miami Herald and other sources.

The water district's governing board agreed to a scaled-back version of the original plan for the state to buy out the sugar company and take over the land. Florida lawmakers had threatened to disapprove of the deal back in December -- which still could happen -- and there is still the issue of funding. Previously, the state proposed to pay more than a billion dollars for 180,000 acres; last week, water managers approved of $536 million for 72,800 acres.

Florida lawmakers may cinch U.S. Sugar land buy

The state of Florida's plan to buy U.S. Sugar Corp. to restore the Everglades has been revamped and approved by the South Florida Water Management District. However, some state lawmakers are threatening to prevent the conservation land sale and end the Everglades restoration deal, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and other sources. Those lawmakers want to get the public's opinion and have a say in the deal. In any case, one official said the water district could proceed with the purchase even without state money. So the saga continues . . . .

Florida revamping plan to buy out sugar company

Back to the drawing board. The state of Florida's plan to buy out U.S. Sugar Corp for $1.75 billion to acquire the company's 187,000 acres and its assets is likely to be scaled back, according to the New York Times and other sources. In the latest version of the purchase, the state would get land to hold water and help restore the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the Everglades, but U.S. Sugar would remain in operation.

The details are still being worked out, but environmentalists are saying that producing sugar in the Everglades is counterproductive to Everglades restoration, and some are even saying the cost to treat the polluted water should be deducted from the final sale price.

A transaction this big is sure to take some time to figure out....

Florida to buy land from sugar corporation to restore Everglades

This is huge news. The state of Florida is planning to buy 185,000 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune and many other sources.

I feel as though I've woken up in an alternate-reality world. Who would have thought? This is an even bigger land deal than the Babcock Ranch from a couple years ago.

Could this be the beginning of the end of the problem the Everglades has with phosphates? And water-flow problems? And ... so much more?

Babcock Ranch trail opens

Babcock Ranch, the state of Florida's largest conservation land purchase ever, is open to the public -- sort of, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

$3.1M Buys Land for Wildlife Area

The Osceola County Commission agreed to pay $3.1 million for 343 acres in the center of Osceola, midway between three state land-management areas, as part of the county's environmental lands conservation program; the property, a piece of the 7,000-acre Lonesome Swamp Ranch, sits east of Canoe Creek Road and Florida's Turnpike - April 5, Orlando Sentinel

Press release: State reaches Everglades land acquisition milestone

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced that the state has acquired more than 99% of the land needed to complete Acceler8 – Florida’s initiative to speed up eight vital Everglades restoration projects - Feb. 6, DEP

Environmentalists speak out about need for land conservation

Environmentalists are holding Florida Forever Day at the Capitol today to voice the need for buying and conserving land - Feb. 6, Tallahassee Democrat

1,000 acres added to preservation list

A dispute over control of part of Northern Golden Gate Estates spilled over Tuesday into a decision on what lands to target for preservation under the Conservation Collier program - Jan. 24, Naples Daily News

Protecting wild Florida

For the first time, a comprehensive plan is in place to conserve Florida's most-threatened habitats -- and the nearly 1,000 species that depend on them to survive - Dec. 18, Orlando Sentinel

Water district backing away from $68.1M land buy

The district's board was set to vote this week on a proposal to pay $68.1 million for 2,270 acres east of Lake Okeechobee -- even though water managers had no definite plans for how to use the tracts -- but the agency's staff pulled the proposal late Tuesday, saying the money might need to go instead to efforts to protect the Herbert Hoover Dike or a court-ordered cleanup of runoff near the lake's south shore - Dec. 13, Palm Beach Post

$76M deal approved for land around Silver Springs

The 4,471-acre property contains upland forest, sand hills and marshes and is considered ideal to allow water to recharge back into underground supplies that feed the spring - Nov. 15, Orlando Sentinel