Feds Block States From Developing on Land That Could Belong to Frogs

Dozens of lawyers, biologists, developers, environmental and business groups, and federal, state and local officials are involved in the case, Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in the fall. Twenty states have stepped in on the side of Weyerhaeuser, a timber company, arguing the federal wildlife agency overstepped its authority in declaring land with the potential for frog habitation effectively off-limits to developers. The states and Weyerhaeuser also have asked the high court to limit Fish and Wildlife’s power by allowing federal courts to review its decisions to protect potential habitats from developers. “We recognize and understand critical habitat of endangered species is important,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in an interview. “But we have an interest not only in environmental protection but to preserve the rights of landowners,” he said. “We think this is an extreme case.” Marshall wrote in a friend of the court brief on behalf of the states: “The states have a profound interest in maintaining the delicate balance Congress struck in the Endangered Species Act between ensuring the recovery of listed species and protecting private property rights of citizens and the sovereign interests of the states.”...MORE