The Nation - News from May 19, 1988

The House Interior Committee gave its blessing to what is being called the biggest land swap in U.S. history: 92.5 federal acres in downtown Phoenix for 118,000 acres of Florida swamp. Approval of the deal came on a voice vote after a critic, Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) argued that taxpayers might not be getting the best price for the Phoenix land. The swap would bring the government 118,000 acres in Florida--4,236 of them under tidal water and possibly owned by the state. The land would be used to enlarge Big Cypress National Preserve and the Florida panther refuge. The deal worked out by the Interior Department and the Arizona congressional delegation values the Florida land at $45.1 million. Its owners, the Collier family, would also pay the government $34.9 million. An Interior Department appraisal set a $122-million value on the entire urban tract of 104 acres. Under the proposal, the Colliers would get 68 of the 104 acres.