Anita Cragg is owner and president of Space Coast Management Services, Inc. In 1992, she bought an existing subdivision in Country Cove, Florida, with plans to expand and build new homes adjacent to the previously developed site. Cragg's permits were in order and some buyers were waiting to build and settle in.

But while surveying for waterline extensions in 1993, officials from the Fish and Wildlife Service noted two endangered scrub jays flying onto Cragg's lots. The officials claimed that Cragg's planned development posed a potential hazard to land "suitable for occupation by scrub jays" and suspended construction on the site. Cragg insists that neither the Fish and Wildlife Service, nor an independent environmental engineer hired by Cragg, could locate any scrub-jay nests on her property. Her four-person company fought with officials for 18 months. Construction was frozen in the meantime, while Cragg's buyers had to continue paying real-estate taxes on the land.

Forcing her into a corner, the agency had her purchase four acres off-site for every one on-site to compensate for the loss of potential scrub-jay habitat. This cost Cragg's company $100,000.

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