Sugar Shocker: State Buys Sugar Land to Restore Glades

In what conservationists are dubbing the biggest ecological restoration in the country's history, the state of Florida announced Tuesday it had inked a tentative deal to purchase 300 square-miles of land from a farming giant.

The deal, expected to unfold over the next six months, will encompass the state buying out the largest producer of cane sugar in the country, while paving the way to restore a huge part of the Everglades.

"It is as monumental as the creation of the nation's first national park, Yellowstone," said Florida Governor Charlie Crist at a news conference by a cane field near Belle Glade.

"This represents -- if we're successful, and I believe we will be -- the largest conservation purchase in the history of the state of Florida," added Crist.

The $1.7 billion purchase will give the state control over 187,000 acres south and east of Lake Okeechobee. It will allow the state to restore the natural flow of water from the lake to the Everglades, the governor and environmentalists said.

"You know, $1.75 billion dollars is a large investment," said Shannon Estenoz, of the South Florida Water Management District, one of several parties involved in the deal. "But the restoration value that we are buying is much larger. In fact, it's priceless, because today we offer the Everglades restoration opportunities we never thought were possible."

The South Florida Water Management District says it is borrowing the huge amount of money for the land puchase by issuing bonds. The state would have to pay the bonds back at a later date.

The deal means the state will essentially buy out U.S. Sugar, a farming giant that owns much of the land in question.

"I'm sobered and not a little bit saddened by the prospect and transition that lies before us -- a transition that sees new beginnings for us individually, and the end of the company that I lead six years from now," said Robert Buker, chief executive officer of U.S. Sugar.

The company, which has been in business nearly 80 years, employs about 1,700 workers. Full-time employees would receive a compensation package, the company said.

Formal negotiations are set to begin on the state's deal on July 1st, but Crist, Estenoz, and Buker signed a "statement of principles" on Tuesday.

The transition to full state ownership of the land is expected to take six years.

For more information on the deal, click here: http://pdf.fbv.mhe.viapointe.com/wpec/MediaKit.pdf