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Cabinet Approves Land Deals

Defying Gov. Rick Scott, the Florida Cabinet voted Tuesday to hand environmentalists a significant victory.

"These are two of the largest easement parcels that have yet been purchased in the Northern Everglades," says Charles Lee of the Florida Audubon.

At issue was a proposal to pay $2.5 million to a pair of Osceola County cattle ranchers in exchange for a promise not to develop some 1,800 acres in the Northern Everglades.

Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam voted yes, saying the environmental benefit was too good to pass up.

But Gov. Rick Scott disagreed, saying the purchase price is too close to the appraised value to be a bargain for taxpayers.

“I think we can do a better job for the taxpayers of the state and I’m going to continue to do that,” he said.

Meanwhile, Scott and the Cabinet voted unanimously to sell a former state mental health hospital in Desoto County. The $2.5 million in revenue will be used to purchase conservation land.