Not going quite to plan (Image: Tom Salyer/Stock Connection/Rex Features)

CONSERVATIONISTS and scientists working to restore the Everglades were stunned and delighted in June 2008 when Florida’s governor Charlie Crist announced that the state had negotiated a deal to buy 75,000 hectares of farmland from United States Sugar. The land, which sits between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades national park, was drained and filled for farming in the early 20th century, partially blocking the natural flow of fresh water that is crucial to the unique wetland ecosystem. At the time, Crist compared the deal to the creation of …