Florida Everglades deal turns on $1.34 billion COPs

By Jim Loney

MIAMI (Reuters) - Florida's funding of a revised deal to buy vast sugar fields in the Everglades calls for selling $1.34 billion of certificates of participation, the head of the South Florida Water Management District said on Tuesday.

No timetable for selling the COPs has been set, according to Carol Wehle, executive director of the water management district.

"Right now, we are looking at all certificates of participation. No cash," Wehle said in an interview.

State officials announced a scaled down version of the purchase agreement from the U.S. Sugar Corp, which was struck in June and initially called for issuing $1.75 billion of COPs and a $50 million cash payment.

Wehle said government negotiators and U.S. Sugar had reached a broad agreement on the revised deal, but were still haggling over details. The board of directors for the water management district has yet to sign off.

A source familiar with the revised deal said the original price had been cut by about $400 million and U.S. Sugar Corp will retain ownership of about 5,000 acres of the land originally included as part of the purchase.

U.S. Sugar is one the country's largest privately held agricultural firms. The land it will retain includes its sugar mill and refinery, a citrus plant and a private railroad.

Under the new deal, the state would still end up owning 182,000 acres of land in the northern Everglades. It plans to use the land in the so-called Everglades Agricultural Area to help restore a vast tract of shallow water, sawgrass prairie, mangrove islands and pine forests that is home to numerous rare species.

(Additional reporting by Tom Brown; Writing by Michael Connor; editing by Gary Crosse)