Florida to Buy Sugar Farmland for Everglades Preservation

BRADENTON, Fla. - In what would be Florida's largest single acquisition for environmental protection purposes, state officials announced yesterday that they intend to purchase as much as 187,000 acres of sugar-growing land in South Florida for a price that could be as much as $1.75 billion.

A portion of the purchase will be financed with certificates of participation, while some would be paid in cash. The state would buy the land from owner U.S. Sugar Corp., the state's larger producer of the crop, and ultimately restore it to its natural state as part of the Florida Everglades.

Gov. Charlie Crist, the South Florida Water Management District, the state's Department of Environmental Protection, and U.S. Sugarpresident Robert Buker yesterday signed a nonbinding "statement of principles" to negotiate terms of the sale to aid the restoration of the Everglades.

While details were unavailable about who would issue the COPs, and where the cash would come from given the Florida's budget problems, the agreement said the state and U.S. Sugar hope to negotiate a purchase agreement within 75 days and close on the sale by Nov. 30.

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