TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- An Everglades restoration land deal proposed in 2008 is still possible, although it has shrunk considerably, a Florida water district chairman said.
Chairman Eric Buermann said the $1.75 billion, 180,000-acre project that has been whittled down to a $197 million deal for 26,800 acres was "not a pipe dream," The Miami Herald reported Thursday.
Between a crashing economy and legal challenges by Florida Crystals Corp. and the Miccosukee Tribe, Gov. Charlie Crist's proposal to buy the land from U.S. Sugar Corp. to act as a water filtration system for the Everglades has been cut down considerably.
Environmentalists loved the first deal.
They also love the new deal -- or, at least, they say, it is better than no deal at all.
"The deal was hard for a lot of legislators and other political movers to swallow and when the economy tanked, it made it a harder sale," said Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida. UPI
