The Miami Herald reports the approval of the SFWMD board for the new deal. Just yesterday, AoF circulated a press release touting the virtues of the revised deal, which allows the state to purchase the US Sugar lands, but leaves the other assets to the company. Here is an excerpt from AoF’s press release:

The deal, which must be considered and approved by U.S. Sugar’s Board of Directors and the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), will be signed in December. Terms of the pending contract include the sale of U.S. Sugar’s real estate properties, (approximately 181,000 acres), for $1.34 billion and a lease-back of the land for $50 per acre, for a period covering seven crop cycles. The sugar mill, refinery and citrus processing facilities, railroads, office buildings, equipment and the Gilchrist County citrus nursery will remain the property of U.S. Sugar.

Audubon strongly supports the plan and is confident that the new plan is in the best interests of both Everglades restoration and the taxpayers.  David Anderson, the Executive Director of Audubon of Florida explains “It’s better than the deal that was originally announced. The state gets the lands needed in the Everglades Agricultural Area for water storage, treatment and conveyance. And communities in the area get to keep the sugar mill, citrus processing plant, rail lines and some cane fields. So, in the end, the state will have what it needs to move forward with restoration of the Everglades, while protecting the economic integrity of the region.

Unknown at this time is the future option of the company to continue farming the lands not directly needed for restoration purposes. At this point, it looks like U.S. Sugar has succeeded in obtaining a large chunk of cash in exchange for the right to continue business as usual. The state has a long history of making bad deals; let’s hope this one was done right.