Everglades

Florida Buys Everglades Land to Prevent Oil Drilling

NBCUniversal, Inc.

On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the state of Florida would purchase a large portion of land in the Everglades in order to prevent oil production in the area.

The 20,000 acres will be bought from Kanter Real Estate, the same group that was given approval to drill an exploratory oil well in the Everglades - west of Miramar.

South Florida Water Management District will be putting up between $16.5 and $18 million depending on when the purchase goes through.

The land will become publicly-owned for restoration and recreation. As a result, the state hopes billions of gallons of water can move through the bay.

"We'll permanently save the land from oil production, but also apart from that, it is the largest acquisition of land in a decade," DeSantis said.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection says they are moving forward with the buyout within the next 75 days.

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