Florida's $1.75 billion plan to purchase 300 square miles of land for Everglades restoration has many environmentalists cheering, but skeptics maintain it will take more than buying more land to bring the park back.

To restore the soon-to-be-purchased farmland, the state will need more funding. "We've had a lot of projects for a lot of years, and they never get done," said Terry L. Rice, a hydrologist who advises the local Miccosukee Tribe. "There are big, huge challenges that go well beyond just buying the land."

The purchase plan was boosted Monday when Florida water utilities unexpectedly announced their support, despite vociferous opposition from local counties worried about the economic consequences of limiting the sugar industry (Curtis Morgan, Miami Herald, July 1).

The purchase is supposed to connect the wetlands with Lake Okeechobee, but environmentalists say there are too many holes. The planned acquisition U.S. Sugar may have to be supplemented by one from sugar company Florida Crystals.

The water returning to the Everglades must also be clean, the environmentalists say, which would require additional wetlands restoration for filtering, a project whose costs could top $1 billion (Damien Cave, New York Times, July 2). -- PR