Timber giant Weyerhaeuser, the company with large operations in southeast Oklahoma’s mountainous forests was part of the U.S. Supreme Court’s October session. The company is involved in a fight over a frog in Louisiana.
Weyerhaeuser filed suit against the Interior Department challenging it reach of the Endangered Species Act. The fight is over the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision in 2012 to designate forest land in Louisiana as critical habitat for the endangered dusky gopher frog. It’s a war-covered amphibian that numbers fewer than 135 adults and most of them live around one pond in Mississippi.
The Wildlife Serevice also listed 1,544 acres of the frogs’ historic habitat in Louisiana. The only problem is, the frog in question hasn’t been spotted in Louisiana since 1965.
Weyerhaeuser argues the frog is unable to return to Louisiana because conditions won’t allow it. The company also contends if it is forced to give up the acreage in question, it will suffer a nearly $34 million loss in development opportunities.
When a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the agency’s decision, Weyerhaeuser appealed. What’s ironic about the case is that the agency’s decision is upheld by the Trump administration. So that puts environmentalists, who normally attack the Trump administration at every turn, in the position of supporting the White House.