U.S. Top Court Takes Up Property Rights Case Involving Endangered Frog

"WASHINGTON - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed hear a bid by timber company Weyerhaeuser Co seeking to limit the federal government’s power to designate private land as protected habitat for endangered species in a case involving a warty amphibian called the dusky gopher frog.

Weyerhaeuser harvests timber on the Louisiana land in question and is backed in the case by business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Weyerhaeuser challenged a lower court ruling upholding a 2012 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to include private land where the frog does not currently live as critical habitat, potentially putting restrictions on future development opportunities.

The case pits property rights against federal conservation measures. The frog, found only in four locations in southern Mississippi, also previously inhabited Louisiana and Alabama."

Lawrence Hurley reports for Reuters January 22, 2018.