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.
VICTORY: A judge has agreed to temporarily stop construction on the mega-development that threatens twenty endangered species in Florida.
— Center for Bio Div (@CenterForBioDiv) December 9, 2017
This ruling gives them another chance for survival while we and our allies continue to fight in court.
READ more -> https://t.co/odCf80GWq6 pic.twitter.com/8iCmy4Kave
MIAMI — The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Cox Media Group