Gov. Crist announces sugar, Everglades deal

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

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Gov. Crist announced the deal Tuesday morning.

WELLINGTON (Bay News 9) -- The nation's largest producer of cane sugar is set to go out of business in a deal to sell its land to the state of Florida for Everglades restoration.

Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sugar Corp. representatives announced Tuesday the state was working on a deal to buy U.S. Sugar's 187,000 acres, nearly 300 square miles, in the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee.

"We are here to announce a strategy to save America's everglades," Crist said. "It is as monumental as the creation of our nation's first national park Yellowstone."

U.S. Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL) called the deal "historic."

"I commend Governor Crist and U.S. Sugar for arriving at this agreement," Martinez said. "This is historic. Returning this land to its natural state will result in incredible environmental benefits and compliment restoration efforts in ways never envisioned when this task began."

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The potential deal calls for the state to pay about $1.7 billion for the land.

"The money comes from actually existing revenues that the management department has," Crist said. "And they have the opportunity to bond and utilize current funds to make this occur."

The vision for the sale was apparently Crist's idea.

"Frankly, Governor Crist is very persuasive," said U.S. Sugar Corp. Pres. Robert Buker. "And when the Governor gives you a bold vision and it may be startling at first but as you look at it then you see that it might actually be possible to do this."

Negotiations are still ongoing, but officials hope to sign an agreement by September. Once the deal is in place, U.S. Sugar would be allowed to farm the land for six more years before closing its business.

Here is a government satellite image of the area. U.S. Sugar land is highlighted in blue.

"This does it in a way that we can transition out," Buker said. "And take care of the employees and the communities at the same time the Governor is taking care of the Everglades restoration."

Environmentalist Kurt Zuelsdorf of Gulfport is excited about the purchase.

His kayaking business, Kayak Nature Adventures, survives on clean water.

"I think it's a pretty sweat deal, to tell you the truth," Zuelsdorf said. "For so many decades now big sugar has just been really desecrating the life in the Everglades cutting off water circulation and polluting the air down there."

"We have to do whatever we can to protect and preserve big chunks of land like that. So, yeah, it is a lot of money but what is that going to mean to my kids and to your kids for the future to be able to have that big chunk of the Everglades restored and pristine like it used to be."

U.S. Sugar Corp.

Employs about 1,700 people
Largest sugar company in the nation. It produces 10-percent.
Founded in 1931

According to U.S. Sugar Corp, the company will sell all its holdings to the state, including land, its sugar mill, refinery, citrus plant, citrus nursery, rock mines and equipment.

The land, covering Hendry, Glades and Palm Beach counties, is slightly smaller than the size of Pinellas County. The farming in the area has long been considered a hinderance to protecting the environment.

"I can envision no better gift to the Everglades, the people of Florida or the people of America than to place in public ownership this missing link that represents the key to true restoration," Crist said.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.