The directive from Florida voters was clear: By a 75 percent majority, they approved a proposal in November to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to buy and protect unspoiled land.
So what does the state Legislature plan to do with the money? Wages for officials who regulate fish farming, new patrol vehicles for wildlife officers, salaries in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, funds for law enforcement officers to ticket speeding boaters and other routine expenses.
Just a fraction of the anticipated $750 million land-buying fund would go toward the purchase of environmentally sensitive land, such as tropical hammocks in the Keys or ranchlands inhabited by Florida panthers.