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Judge halts clearing of rare forest targeted for South Florida Walmart

Bulldozers downing trees on a property targeted for a Walmart-anchored shopping center were ordered to stop work after a federal judge issued an emergency injunction sought by environmentalists fighting to save the vanishing forest.
The judge issued the injunction Friday, hours after the Center for Biological Diversity and three other groups sued to overturn a decision earlier this week that cleared the way for the mall, 900 apartments and a parking lot.
The land near Zoo Miami had long been targeted for conservation and is part of what was once one of the largest tracks of pine rockland, a globally imperiled forest, outside Everglades National Park.
A Miami newspaper reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on a habitat conservation plan that cleared the way for the development.

MIAMI — The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Cox Media Group

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