Maxxam Group won a round in federal court.

U.S. District Judge William Schwarzer ruled in San Francisco that Maxxam can proceed Thursday with its takeover of Pacific Lumber, saying a state judge’s order blocking the merger placed an unconstitutional burden on interstate commerce. Schwarzer gave lawyers representing minority shareholders of San Francisco-based Pacific Lumber until noon Thursday to get the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene, although he said he might extend that deadline. The appeals court may be the last hope of dissident shareholders to prevent the bitterly contested merger.