In the ongoing negotiations to get the city-owned land surrounding Hemlock and Canadice Lakes into the state's hands, the official line from the regional Department of Environmental Conservation office is that there's nothing new to report. But clearly, there is.

Rochester Mayor Bob Duffy has been consistently confident that the city and state can reach a deal, and is now signaling that the end is near. When he released his 2009-10 budget proposal two weeks ago, Duffy included a $2-million line that counts on revenue from selling the property.

"I anticipate that the city will sell our watershed to New York State in the coming months and ensure this land will be forever wild," Duffy wrote in his budget introduction.

Hemlock and Canadice Lakes are the last two undeveloped Finger Lakes, and the city owns more than 7,000 acres of land around them. The land was purchased incrementally between the 1890's and the 1950's to protect the water from development and human activities. State officials view the lakes and surrounding land as conservation priorities.

City and state appraisals are reportedly very close. The state's financial problems have caused observers some anxiety over the deal, but one person who is part of the process has offered reassurances.

Jim Howe, executive director of the Nature Conservancy of Central and Western New York, said earlier this year that if the deal begins to fall apart, his organization will do what it can to help purchase the land and to get it into the state's hands. Howe is working with the governments to broker a deal.