The Endangered Species Act has long been used by activists of various stripes to stop unwanted development projects. Where an endangered species can be found, the relatively inflexible provisions of sections 7 and 9 are particularly well suited to halting development in its tracks. In the 1990s, a major timber company was even caught employing wildlife biologists to survey land used by its competitors for listed species, hoping to use the ESA to gain a comparative advantage.

This story, courtesy of Tom Tanton, presents a simlar tale with an intersting twist.

State wildlife officials believe someone planted endangered flowers at a Sebastopol building site to try to stop a disputed housing development.

Saying the act amounts to criminal fraud, state Department Fish and Game botanist Gene Cooley said his agency concluded that Sebastopol meadowfoam plants found on the Laguna Vista site were transplanted from somewhere else.

"This is a very unusual situation - in my experience, unique," Cooley said Friday. "I've had 25-years of endangered plant experience with state and federal agencies, and I have never known a rare plant to be introduced to a site to thwart development before."

Not everyone quoted in the story believes the flowers were transplanted, but it's an intriguing tale nonetheless.