The Department of Environmental Protection is recommending to Gov. Jeb Bush and his Cabinet a $3.3 million purchase of 800 acres in Lake County from private owners. The DEP also suggests acquiring conservation rights from other private owners for less than purchase costs on 3,000 additional acres near LaBelle, FL in Hendry County, 150 miles south of Downtown Orlando.

Based only on the total purchase price, the state will pay about $4,125 per acre or nine cents per sf for the 800-acre tract between the Ocala National Forest and two rural roads, 30 miles and 45 miles north of Downtown Orlando. If sold to private developers, the same land, depending on location, would go for at least three or four times the price the state will be paying, area planners tell GlobeSt.com.

David Struhs, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection in Tallahassee, FL, couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline to learn of other land acquisitions on the state's buying list. But DEP staffers confirm to GlobeSt.com the state already has spent $114 million or an average $3,081 per acre (less than one cent per sf) on 37,000 acres south of Ocala Forest that stretch to Rock Springs, FL, near Apopka, 17 miles north of Downtown Orlando.