On December 5th, the federal Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a decision allowing a major mixed-use Walmart development in Miami’s largest remaining stretch of the highly endangered pine rocklands forest, next to ZooMiami.

This morning, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition with their partner organizations filed suit in federal court against FWS for failing to provide 30 days public notice to review the decision and numerous other technical failings.

A federal judge heard their case today and issued an emergency temporary restraining order, to stop a Walmart from being built on top of Miami’s most endangered forest land in a project called Coral Reef Commons, built in conjunction with the University of Miami.

Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition President Al Sunshine — a nearby resident for almost 40 years — went to the site’s adjacent sidewalk and delivered a copy of the order to workers who were in the midst of digging up endangered pine rocklands.

“The University of Miami and Coral Reef Commons developers who are building the Walmart finally stopped work at about 3pm today after formal notification by the court.”

The judge’s ruling today indicates that the neighbors and environmental groups suing to stop Walmart’s development have a good likelihood of proving their case.

Residents have watched in horror and documented the carnage for the last two days bulldozers flattened trees in the developer Ram Realty’s rush to rip apart the pine rocklands for Walmart, 900 apartments and a total 275,000 sq. ft. of retail space.

Only two months ago, the Miami Pine Rocklands Coalition filed suit under Miami-Dade County law seeking to overturn this very same Walmart project’s zoning approval for a faulty notice that kept residents in the dark.

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Sunshine says that the Walmart developers may have been in violation of some the details of their federal work permit by cutting corners on the specialized gear they promised to use to obtain permission to build a large development that will kill up to 21 different types of federally protected, endangered animals and plants.

“This mega-development will wipe out some of South Florida’s last ecological gems and diminish quality of life for nearby residents by worsening traffic and sprawl,” said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Losing the Florida bonneted bat, the rare Florida leafwing butterfly or the incredibly striking Miami tiger beetle is a tragedy that can’t be undone.”

The federal court’s ruling is good for 14 days from today, and the parties will return to court on December 20th for another hearing.

Here is a video showing the Miami pine rocklands being destroyed: