Associated Press
August 24, 2010
MIAMI — A federal judge has denied the request by the Miccosukee Indians to stop the state from purchasing agricultural land in the Everglades.
Judge Federico Moreno ruled Monday that the tribe’s emergency motion, filed earlier this month in Miami federal court, was not actually emergency since the land deal would not close until Oct. 11.
The South Florida Water Management District has agreed to purchase 26,791 acres for about $197.4 million from U.S. Sugar. The state says the land will be used to help restore the Everglades, but the tribe has argued that the deal would stall other key restoration projects.
The initial deal announced in 2008 was to pay $1.75 billion to buy all of U.S. Sugar’s 180,000 acres, but it has been scaled back, in part, because of the economy.
