U.S. Sugar Corp.'s tentative deal to sell 187,000 acres of land to the state of Florida for $1.75 billion is sweet for both the business and the Everglades.

When the sale closes in November, the sugar and citrus company will relinquish its holdings to the South Florida Water Management District. In return, U.S. Sugar will receive $1.75 billion to pay down debt and other obligations and to pay out about $700 million to shareholders. The company will also be able to operate rent-free for about six years.

"The decision here was based upon the right circumstances at the right time," said Robert Coker, a senior vice president at the Clewiston, Fla.-based company. "This was not driven by economic or environmental concerns."

Environmentalists have welcomed the deal, with hopes of creating a flow-way that would allow Lake Okeechobee, which borders the land, to spill south into the remaining marshes of the Everglades (Greenwire, June 24).

But many people in Clewiston were reeling after the announcement. More than half of the town's economy depends on the company. "If that company goes out of business, it has a drastic effect on our economy," said Miller Couse, chairman and chief executive of First Bank in Clewiston (Bussey/Hiaasen, Miami Herald, June 25). -- RB