Everglades are one step closer to restoration, almost

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida – The state of Florida is buying 300 acres of land in the Everglades from U.S. Sugar, but the process has slowed due to financing uncertainties. A project set for signing in November, the sugar swap is now reaching into 2009.

The proposal grants Florida the land after seven years. The state then intends to put the Everglades region under conservation and restoration efforts. While many environmentalists celebrate the deal, residents of the surrounding communities worry they may lose their jobs. The plan would put US Sugar out of business and leave 1,700 people unemployed.

According to the Associated Press, “The multibillion Everglades restoration effort, bogged down for years by bureaucracy, funding shortfalls and missteps, is the largest of its kind in the world. It is aimed at undoing or rerouting decades of flood-control projects that were built to make way for houses and farms.”

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Source: Associated Press