SCOTUS to hop on La. frog case

WASHINTON - The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) agreed Jan. 22 to take up a case concerning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s designation of about 1,600 privately owned acres in Louisiana as a "critical habitat" for a species known as the dusky gopher frog, despite the fact the species currently exists only in Mississippi. The case was filed by a Louisiana lumber firm that holds a long-term timber lease on the property that doesn't expire until 2043. Company lawyers say the tract "concededly contains no dusky gopher frogs and cannot provide habitat for them absent a radical change in the land use because it lacks features necessary for their survival." The frog historically lived in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, but there are only about 100 alive in Mississippi due primarily to habitat loss. The Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against the St. Tammany Parish landowners and holding that the company had not established that F&WS’ Endangered Species Act interpretation was unreasonable in Louisiana and "essential for the conservation of the dusky gopher frog." The case is expected to be argued next term. F&WS concluded the designation may likely cost $34M in lost development value of the acreage. But the government argued that the frogs are "trans-located to the site" in five ponds "in close proximity to each other" and that adult frogs could potentially create a "meta-population." (Source: CNN 01/22/18)