Groups Sue Feds over Accommodations for Tiny Gnatcatcher Bird

RIVERSIDE - A Riverside-based property rights group and other parties filed a lawsuit today seeking to compel the Obama administration to reassess whether a bird species should remain federally protected -- with tens of thousands of acres reserved as ''critical habitat'' -- even though its nesting grounds extend well into Mexico.

The Property Owners Association of Riverside County, the Santa Maria- based Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Business and San Diego resident Dr. Lou Marsh are challenging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's designation of the California gnatcatcher as a threatened s...