Local group calls for state to buy lands south of Lake Okeechobee

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- Local environmental groups are renewing their call for the state to buy lands, south of Lake Okeechobee.

The groups claim we can protect the Caloosahatchee River by having land, south of the lake, to take the nutrient-filled water.

The problem is the price tag is at lest $350 million, and the legislature is locked in a stalemate over the budget.

People arrived at Captiva, urging lawmakers to find the money to buy lands owned by U.S. Sugar Corporation.

Those lands would be used to filter water from the lake, send it south into the Everglades, and keep it out of the river.

“If you don’t buy this land, and the water turns bad, we’re gonna lose jobs,” said Gabe Jensen.

U.S. Sugar owns the thousands of acres in question. The company has never said it won’t sell. However, it does say other efforts to restore the Everglades are succeeding, and should be funded before any land buys.

Residents admit they’re still climbing uphill in their effort to convince lawmakers and Governor Rick Scott to buy the land. They blame politics and the sugar industry’s money.

“It would appear to me, that the connections for the sugar are so huge, and so entrenched, that they can resist the efforts of the will of the people,” said Jim Collier.

The problem now is that lawmakers will have to focus all their attention on the budget, and getting money for hospitals to care for low-income and non-paying people.

That alone, is proving to be a major problem and there may be no time left for talk about the sugar lands.