Bowing to the realities of a severely weakened economy and a ballooning budget deficit, the state of Florida has drastically revised its proposed purchase of agricultural land in the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee.
The state’s goal continues to be “to connect Lake Okeechobee with Florida Bay and restore the natural flow” of water that created and sustained the vast Everglades ecosystem for thousands of years, said Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on April 1 in announcing the revised approach. In pursuit of that goal, Crist last June had announced that the state had reached an agreement with United States Sugar Corp., Clewiston, Fla., for Florida to buy the agribusiness’ assets and 187,000 acres of land for $1.75 billion.