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IN 'HUGE' EVERGLADES WIN, STATE TO BUY U.S. SUGAR

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By NICOLA M. WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

TAMPA - Environmentalists for decades have demonized the sugar industry, accusing it of simultaneously polluting and robbing precious water from the Everglades.

On Tuesday, they found themselves contemplating the previously unthinkable: the end of U.S. Sugar and the beginning of a plan that would finally restore the historic water flow into and out of the fragile swamp.

It happened when Gov. Charlie Crist announced a momentous deal between the state and U.S. Sugar Corp. for the purchase of 300 square miles of company land. The $1.75 billion purchase would be the state's most ambitious effort ever to heal the Everglades, Florida's expansive, storied marshland and home to endangered and protected species such as the Florida panther and American crocodile.

Some environmental activists could barely believe the news.

"It's truly a breathtaking announcement today of great significance and priceless value," said Kirk Fordham, chief executive officer of the Everglades Foundation. "Frankly, most of us couldn't fathom this happening today."

Crist wasn't shy in highlighting the significance of the deal, calling it "as monumental as the creation of the nation's first national park," Yellowstone, in 1872.

The arrangement calls for the South Florida Water Management District to buy U.S. Sugar and its holdings and turn 187,000 acres over to state control to rework water patterns, clean polluted water and sustain wetlands during droughts. The details of the deal will be worked out over the next 75 days.

If the deal goes through, U.S. Sugar, the largest producer of sugar in the country, would shut down over the next six years, closing the books on 70 years of history. It's a move its president described as bittersweet.

"I am sobered and a little saddened by the prospect of the transition that lies before us," said U.S. Sugar President and CEO Robert Buker. "On the other hand, I am excited by what we are doing today and by what it means for the future of Florida and its environment."

Environmentalists were even more excited.

"In the old days, you didn't just beat your opponent, you also ate them," said David Guest, an attorney with Earth Justice. "Today, we're eating U.S. Sugar."

Massive Undertaking

Altogether, the company's land holdings, which are scattered across Hendry, Glades and Palm Beach counties, make up an area three times the size of Orlando.

Acquiring that much land would be a huge boost in efforts to restore the Everglades, which have been hurt by decades of flood-control and drainage projects that paved the way for development in South Florida but destroyed thousands of miles of wetlands and marsh in the process.

"This is the most stunning development in the history of Everglades restoration," Guest said.

Past restoration efforts have had to tap dance around working sugar and citrus farms, many of which have not only operated in the area for decades, but have also wielded tremendous political clout in Tallahassee.

"Up until today, the sugar industry has been a vigorous opponent of seeing any land going from sugar uses into water management or conservation," said Charles Lee, director of advocacy for Audubon of Florida. "So the level of this breakthrough is huge."

Once a massive, 4,000-square-mile "River of Grass" ecosystem that stretched from Lake Kissimmee to Florida Bay, the Everglades was home to 2 million wading birds and pristine Old Florida landscape.

Through the years, eager lawmakers and developers saw it as a giant swamp that needed to be drained. The Everglades fell victim to an onslaught of development and toxic agricultural runoff, eventually getting reduced to half its original size. Today, only 10 percent of those 2 million wading birds exist.

The patchwork of drainage projects meant that much of the rainwater and water from Lake Okeechobee was not allowed to meander over miles of swamp before reaching Florida Bay, being filtered and purified along the way. Instead, the water was polluted by agricultural runoff and flushed into canals that eventually dumped into the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean.

Recognizing the importance of the area, in 2000 Congress approved the federal Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, a project that was supposed to be a joint effort with the state. The federal government, however, hasn't always given its fair share, critics say, a problem that has slowed significant restoration efforts.

If the state goes through with its purchase of U.S. Sugar, the timetable to fully restore the Everglades could be dramatically sped up and, environmentalists hope, be done so much more cheaply than originally anticipated. Some of the land might eventually house huge reservoirs to allow pollutants to be naturally filtered from the water.

"The challenges are still huge," Lee said. "The difference is this land transaction makes challenges become much more manageable."

The land purchase will be funded primarily through the South Florida Water Management District. State funds reserved for conservation could also be used for the project.

Officials: Tax Rate Increase Not Needed

The water management district is a special taxing district that levies $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property value across its 16 counties; it collects about $522 million annually for operations and restoration projects.

Paul Dumars, chief financial officer for the district, said it will have the ability to cover the entire $1.75 billion estimated cost of the project, with $1.7 billion coming from bonds and the remaining $50 million from cash reserves. Borrowing the $1.7 billion, Dumars said, would cost the district $117 million annually but would not require a tax rate increase.

The $117 million would have otherwise supported other conservation efforts, he said.

If necessary, the state could contribute to the deal using existing funds set aside for the conservation, said state Sen. Burt Saunders, head of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee.

Florida lawmakers appropriated $300 million in bonding for the Florida Forever land conservation program this spring and $50 million for Everglades restoration. Both programs could be tapped to complete the land acquisition without additional legislative action, said Saunders, a Republican from Naples.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, who is supportive of the project, expressed concern about the water district taking on such debt - to be paid back with taxpayers' money - without first presenting its case to taxpayers or soliciting their input.

"I am just a big believer that when you have an appointed body spending money or issuing bonds, they should be open about it, hold hearings on it," Fasano said.

Dumars said the type of revenue bonding that the water management district is using does not legally require a public hearing and is preferable because it yields more cash upfront for the project, to get it done sooner. He noted that the project will not require a tax increase, saying, "the taxpayers are going to pay that millage rate anyway."

Sugar's Demise

The deal was hailed as a coup for those who have battled for years to restore the Everglades to its natural state, but observers in the sugar industry were shocked at what the announcement could imply for the sugar economy. The deal had been worked out behind closed doors over the past several months.

U.S. Sugar employs 1,700 people and has helped build small cities near Lake Okeechobee, such as Clewiston, "America's Sweetest Town."

"Our first thought was this was going to be devastating on our rural communities dependent on the sugar economy," said Barbara Miedman, spokeswoman for Florida's Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative. "We are just having a real hard time even grappling with that fact."

U.S. Sugar officials have said that they would offer severance to their workers. State officials also say that jobs in construction and tourism will emerge out of the restoration efforts.

Other sugar producers also are concerned about what it means for their business. Some farmers are concerned that they will feel pressured by the state to sell out, said Miedman, whose group represents 50 small- to midsized sugar farmers.

"It's something that sounds good in theory," she said of the restoration efforts. "But what are we going to do with this tiger now that we caught it?"

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Catherine Dolinski also contributed. Nicola M. White can be reached at nwhite1@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7616.

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