Federal officials propose spending $600 million for wildlife refuge to aid Everglades

Federal officials unveiled a formal proposal Wednesday to spend more than $600 million for a 150,000-acre wildlife refuge in Central Florida that's designed to protect the northern headwaters of the Everglades. That land is now mostly occupied by cattle ranches, some of them held by the same family for generations. The plans by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service call for leaving those ranchers still occupying at least two-thirds of the refuge. Instead of buying their land outright, the government would just buy the development rights. The ranchers could continue using their land for ranching and growing crops — and even allowing hunters to shoot deer and other wildlife in what would then be a wildlife refuge. Federal officials don't consider that a contradiction, said Charlie Pelizza, who has helped spearhead the planning effort...more