Supreme court rules against endangered dusky gopher frog

Court ruled in favor of landowners seeking to limit power to designate private land as protected habitat for species

The US supreme court on Tuesday decided against the interests of a warty amphibian and handed a victory to a timber company and other landowners in the first major move on the environment from the bench this term.

The court ruled in favor of the commercial interests seeking to limit the federal government's power to designate private land as protected habitat for endangered species, in a property rights case involving the dusky gopher frog.