More than 1,000 acres of land in the tri-county area will be sold as part of a plan to eliminate a projected $26 million deficit in the state prison system’s budget.

The Alabama Department of Corrections will sell a total of 5,763 acres of state-owned land officials said was “unproductive and money-losing” to pay for prison improvements.

Although critics of the proposal have said that selling the land is a short-term fix, Gov. Bob Riley and Corrections Commissioner Richard Allen defended the proposal at a news conference Wednesday, noting that none of the money from the land sales will pay for operating expense but much-needed improvements.

“This program is going to allow us to build a foundation that I think corrects once and for all so many of the problems that we have had for a generation,” Riley said.

The Montgomery area land includes the following:

— 1,851 acres at Red Eagle Honor Farm in Montgomery

— The old Alabama Department of Corrections building at 101 S. Union St. in downtown Montgomery.

— 31 acres in Wetumpka on U.S. 231 North

— 10 acres at the old Kilby Prison site

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