The city of Palm Bay, Florida, spent $400,000 on which to build Liberty Park, a 40-acre development to include a community center, a swimming pool, four softball fields, playgrounds, tennis courts, and picnic areas. But by clearing a strip of scrub oak and palmetto palms so surveyors could do their job, city officials unwittingly created the perfect habitat for the scrub jay, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and which were spotted by an inspector for the Fish and Wildlife Service on a final inspection of the site. Although the land was uninhabitable to the birds before it was cleared, Palm Bay must now set aside more than 15 acres for them, killing the community center, swimming pool, and one of the softball fields.

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