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....

EPA implicated in Everglades pollution

Can it be that the top environment branch of government is to blame for poor Everglades water quality?

The federal Environmental Protection Agency is part of the pollution problem, a judge said.

The EPA violated the Clean Water Act when it let the state of Florida delay a deadline for reducing phosphorus in Everglades water, according to the Palm Beach Post and other sources. The article tells the back story better than I can sum up, so click on over to read more.

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?

Why the Everglades was taken of the U.N. list of endangered sites

Maybe you heard last month that the United Nations decided to downgrade Everglades National Park from its list of endangered sites around the world. And maybe like me and many other Floridians, you said to yourself, "Huh?"

This St. Petersburg article by Craig Pittman article lays it all out. The head of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. World Heritage Committee -- Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Todd Willens -- said reps from some of the other countries attending the meeting wanted the Everglades off the list because of the restoration plan that has been in place for the past seven years. (Never mind that it's going to take at least a generation for the Everglades to actually be restored.)

According to the article, some people suggested Willens requested the Everglades be removed from the list for political reasons, to make the U.S. look good. But Willens' defense -- that other countries wanted the Everglades off -- isn't really any better. If you ask me, why are people from other countries -- who might not have ever even been to the Everglades -- asking us to take our land off the list? And why did we listen to them and comply?

I try not to get worked up over a lot of things, but this one just doesn't make sense to me. (Neither does having the World Heritage meeting in New Zealand, which means the reps had to do a lot of polluting flying all the way to the South Pacific island just to have their discussions.) As the article points out, Everglades restoration is years behind schedule.

You could say the good thing is we don't need the World Hertiage Committee listing to help the Everglades -- we need more education. And that is true, except, of course, the people making these kinds of decisions seem to be the ones who need that education.

Everglades, Lake O, rivers targeted for funding

Two years after billions of gallons of hurricane rainwater from Lake Okeechobee wreaked environmental havoc as it was flushed down the Caloosahatchee River, lawmakers last week passed more than $400 million worth of environmental aid -- along with a new title that designates as the Northern Everglades a triangular area around Lake Okeechobee, including the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers; more than $200 million goes to expanding Everglades restoration through 2020 and another $100 million is coming to the aid of the rivers - May 12, News-Press

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

Everglades plan worries Broward homeowners

The plan may call for blasting to crack the thick, hard limestone that lies under these areas -- a sensitive point in nearby Miramar, Pembroke Pines and Weston, where homes have already been damaged by blasting from rock mines and residential development - Jan. 23, Sun-Sentinel

Everglades plan's costs could spike to $2.7B

Projected costs for a state Everglades initiative have exploded to nearly $2.7 billion from $1.5 billion in little more than two years since Gov. Jeb Bush announced it, water managers have estimated in internal documents - Nov. 20, Palm Beach Post

Three nesting owl chicks cause $200,000 problem for Everglades cleanup

Three barn owl chicks found nesting in an abandoned shed stand in the way of a key part of the multibillion-dollar project to restore the Everglades - Nov. 16, Sun-Sentinel