The City of Santa Cruz voted unanimously today (January 24, 2012) to ban the sale, release, importation and possession of American Bullfrogs. This makes Santa Cruz the first city in the country to take such a step, and sets an important precedent for other jurisdictions to follow. The non-native frogs spread chytrid fungus and prey on native wildlife. California currently imports several million of the bullfrogs into the state each year. This is the first piece of legislation SAVE THE FROGS! has gotten passed. On February 28, 2012 the County of Santa Cruz will vote on similar legislation. We are currently petitioning the Governor Jerry Brown to make statewide bullfrog legislation.

Read these two news stories for more info on the bullfrog ban
– Public News Service article
– KION article

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE TECHNICIANS (AQUATIC WILDLIFE):

The National Park Service is seeking up to six aquatic technicians for the 2012 summer field season in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI).

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A MSc position is available at the University of Alberta, Edmonton
Alberta, Canada, with Dr. Cindy Paszkowski (University of Alberta,
Biological Sciences) and Dr. Garry Scrimgeour (Parks Canada) to work
on Long-toed Salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum) in spectacular
Waterton Lakes National Park in the Rocky Mountains of southeastern
Alberta.   Read the rest of this post »

SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger and Advisory Chairman Michael Starkey were pleased to be featured on the Dr. Future Radio Show December 20th. Listen to the full 45-minute interview here!

Toad-like ‘inner eye’ makes it hard to look away, York researcher says
The Canadian Press    December 15, 2011

As the Founder & Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS!, the world’s leading amphibian conservation organization, and as a former citizen of San Francisco, I feel obligated to respond to the Chronicle’s recent editorial “On Golf Versus Critters”, which incorrectly describes the Sharp Park Golf Course as being suitable habitat for endangered frogs, and dangerously labels people who care about protecting San Francisco’s wildlife populations as “hard-line environmentalists”.

Wetlands are among the most endangered ecosystems on the planet and over 90 percent of California’s coastal wetlands have been destroyed. So I do not consider myself an extremist for thinking it is unethical and outdated that the City of San Francisco is using taxpayer funds to pump the Sharp Park Wetlands out to sea to create dry land for golfing at Sharp Park. Draining the wetlands strands the egg masses of federally endangered California Red-Legged Frogs. The City’s pumps are situated at the most important Red-Legged Frog breeding pond and they suck the tadpoles out to sea. The endangered San Francisco Garter Snakes that inhabit the site depend on the frogs as a food source, and as the frogs go, so do the snakes. It is not “hard-line” to want to protect the endangered species that bear the name of my favorite city and state; rather, it is my duty as a Californian.
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Late is better than never, right? We’ll be adding the week in frog news to the FrogBlog every week now, thanks to Kristin Womack for taking charge of the compilation.

BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE TECHNICIANS (up to 4) needed for ongoing studies of
amphibians as part of a USGS research program at Yosemite National Park.
One or two 2-person field crews will be hired to conduct visual
encounter surveys throughout Yosemite NP, and occasionally in other
parts of California.  There may be opportunities to participate in
related research on amphibian chytrid fungus and pesticides.
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The 2011 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest received entries from 2,231 contestants in 31 countries! Entries came from Australia, Bangladesh, Belize, Canada, Estonia, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the USA. The 2012 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest will begin January 15th!

Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions and thanks to Critter Skimmer for donating the $$$ CASH PRIZES $$$! Feel free to help us spread the word by posting any of these images on your website! Be sure to check out our Mushroom Frog Art page, featuring tons of amazing 2012 Frog Art entries not displayed on this page. If your company would like to sponsor the 2012 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest, please contact us.

Winners

Frog Hazards by Kara Timmons

San Antonio, TX, Age 19, GRAND PRIZE WINNER (and 18+ Category Winner). Kara’s frog art features invasive species, global warming, deforestation, pollution, limb deformities, and over-harvesting for the dissection, frog legs and pet frog trades. We like her art so much we put it on this postcard; please order a set today!

Marsh Frog at Sunset by Selena Vanapruks

Age 13, Winner of the 10-13 Age Category

Go Green and Save The Frogs by Lei Yang – 8

Walnut, CA, Age 8, Winner of the Under 10 Category

Don’t Splat Our Habitat by Lauren Lucente

Las Vegas, NV, Age 14, Winner of the 13-17 Age Category

View Hundreds Of More Entries Here!

Governor Bev Perdue of North Carolina yesterday officially recognized the 4th Annual Save The Frogs Day (April 28, 2012) in the state of NC, and “commends its observance to all citizens.” Thanks and congratulations to 13 year old Rachel Hopkins of Raleigh, NC for making this happen!

Here is the North Carolina Government page announcing the governor’s pro-frog move.

Click the image below to download the PDF of Governor Perdue’s proclamation!