The U.S. Supreme Court intervened last week in deliberations over the fate of the red-legged frog, which could pose a roadblock for the Devil's Slide bypass.
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor granted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a one-week stay in deciding whether to add the frog to the Endangered Species List. It is currently being considered for addition to the list.
The service was supposed to have made its decision by last Friday, but the deadline was extended until this Friday.
Megan Durham, a spokesperson for the Fish and Wildlife Service in Washington, D.C., said the agency does not believe it is allowed to make a decision at this time. She said a Congressional moratorium enacted last spring forbidding new additions to the Endangered Species list also prohibits making decisions about species that were already being considered.
Durham said that if the Supreme Court does not extend the stay again this Friday it will have to decide whether the frog should be added to the list.
Red-legged frogs were recently confirmed living in a pond on the Shamrock Ranch. A section of the 4.5-mile Martini Creek Bypass would bisect the pond.