SACRAMENTO, Calif.— In response to litigation by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today designated more than 1.6 million acres of critical habitat for the California red-legged frog in 28 California counties. The designation is three-and-a-half times as large as the Service’s 2006 designation, which the agency acknowledged was flawed because of political interference by the Bush administration.

“With protection of its habitat, the California red-legged frog has a chance at survival,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director with the Center for Biological Diversity. “Today’s designation is a wakeup call to start protecting and restoring California’s wetlands, where the frog was once a very abundant resident.”

In November 2007, under pressure brought by the Center and the media highlighting Interior Department corruption, the Service announced its reversal of six illegal Endangered Species Act decisions, including the California red-legged frog’s 2006 critical habitat designation. The Service listed the red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii) as a threatened species in 1996 and designated 4,140,440 acres of critical habitat in 2001, but in response to a lawsuit by developers, the Service revised critical habitat in 2006 to include just 450,288 acres — a reduction of 90 percent from the original designation.

“Today’s designation restores needed habitat protections for the red-legged frog and provides hope for the recovery of this unique California animal,” Greenwald said. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still has a long way to go to dig itself out of the hole left by the Bush administration’s efforts to deny endangered species protections.”

In 2007, the Center for Biological Diversity and other groups filed lawsuits challenging the Service’s refusal to properly designate and protect critical habitat areas for 19 endangered species, including the California red-legged frog. The suits are part of a broader effort by the Center to challenge political corruption that harmed 55 endangered species and denied needed protection to more than 8.5 million acres of wildlife habitat. To date, the Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to reconsider designation of critical habitat for 43 species.
Made famous in the Mark Twain story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” the California red-legged frog has lost more than 70 percent of its historic habitat. Frog populations have declined due to habitat loss from urbanization and the introduction of exotic species such as bullfrogs. The frog is believed to be extinct in the Central Valley and is extirpated from 99 percent of its Sierra Nevada range. Currently, the strongest breeding populations remaining are found along the California coast from San Mateo County to San Luis Obispo County.

The red-legged frog prefers ponds, marshes, and creeks with still water. It requires riparian and upland areas with dense vegetation and open areas for cover, aestivation (summertime hibernation), food, and basking. Undisturbed riparian vegetation is also necessary for female frogs to attach their egg masses, which must float on the water surface for about two weeks in order to hatch.

Background information on the red-legged frog can be found on the Center for Biological Diversity’s Web site at: www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/amphibians/California_red-legged_frog/index.html.

Contact: Noah Greenwald, Center for Biological Diversity, (503) 484-7495

The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation organization with more than 255,000 members and online activists, dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

What could be more fulfilling than a fun night partying for the frogs?

Fundraising house parties and office parties are great ways to celebrate Save The Frogs Day. They spread the word and educate people about amphibian extinctions, and are an excellent method of raising funds for Save The Frogs’ worldwide amphibian conservation efforts. Plus, fundraising parties are a fun way to catch up with friends. And they aren’t very hard to set up. Here’s how to have a successful party!

SAVE THE FROGS!

By Wildlife Biologist Mark Allaback

Although it has taken a decade and is (somewhat) ongoing, I believe I have been instrumental in eradicating bullfrogs (Rana catesbeiana) after they were introduced to the Big Sur Watershed in 2000 at a California Red-Legged Frog (Rana draytonii) breeding pond. Of course, the bullfrog eradication effort required lots of work, including 2 pond drainings and endless hunting. But since there were no known bullfrog sources from the relatively isolated area, it was a worthwhile effort.

Unfortunately, we have also lost the California Red-Legged Frog breeding population from the site, almost certainly due to Louisiana Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). Although present when I arrived in 2000, after draining the pond, they completely took over, effectively removing all submergent vegetative cover and presumably feasting on eggs and tadpoles (scattered detections of tiny numbers of late-stage tadpoles were nearly all hammered by pincers). The pond is perennial. Daily crayfish trapping does nothing, although 5000-6000 crayfish are removed each year.

This year we may essentially take the pond out of commission, at least half the year, by dewatering in late May and keeping it dry until the rains begin in Oct. Perhaps if we do this, the crayfish reproductive cycle will break, and Red-Legged Frogs will one day re-colonize. However, Red-Legged Frogs have not bred successfully since about 2002, although they attempted to for many years (egg mass counts have dropped from ~45 in 2004 to 1 this year).

The crayfish burrow but maybe reducing the hydro-period to 6-7 months for 1 or more years will take them out. My fear is that they will return, since I have seen them disperse overland and found them under debris far from water.

Learn more about invasive species here.

If you ride the SF Muni trains, keep your eyes open for the 80 Save The Frogs Day announcements that will be up for the next month. And please send us a photo if you see them! Thanks to Titan Worldwide for giving us a great deal on these Public Service Announcements!

In an effort to raise awareness of the plight of amphibians and to promote the 2nd Annual Save The Frogs Day, Save The Frogs Founder & Executive Director Dr. Kerry Kriger will be lecturing on the amphibian extinction crisis throughout California this spring. Most of these events are open to the public, so please pass this message on to your friends in California. You can learn more about each event by visiting the Save The Frogs Events Page:
http://savethefrogs.com/events

March 21st: Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz Main Library

March 22nd: Watsonville, CA
Amphibian Conservation Summit
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

March 31st: Santa Cruz, CA
Ecology Action Headquarters

April 5th: Puerto Rico Radio WALO
This interview will be in Spanish (with English translations), and will be accessible live via streaming radio by clicking the “Audio en Vivo” link at the right side of the WALO Radio website.

April 7th: Santa Cruz, CA
Santa Cruz Public Library

April 10th: San Mateo, CA
Herp World Expo

April 11th: San Mateo, CA
Herp World Expo

April 17th: Santa Cruz, CA
Earth Day Santa Cruz 2010

April 18th: San Francisco, CA
California Academy of Sciences

April 22nd (Earth Day): San Francisco, CA
California Academy of Sciences

April 24th (Earth Day Observed): San Francisco, CA
California Academy of Sciences

April 30th (Save The Frogs Day!) – Watsonville, CA
Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve

We’ll be announcing more events shortly!
Event details are at: http://savethefrogs.com/events

Later this year we will offer a training course for university students to enable them to give high-quality presentations on amphibian extinctions to high school and middle school students, thus dramatically increasing our ability to reach large numbers of students.

Save The Frogs is a grassroots effort: please help us fund this class and the related materials! Thanks!

In commemoration of the 2nd Annual Save The Frogs Day, we present this limited edition 18×24″ print featuring amazing vector art by graphic design extraordinaire Matthew Bryan of the United Kingdom. Frog posters don’t get much cooler than this one!

Remember that all proceeds from sales of this poster help fund SAVE THE FROGS! worldwide amphibian conservation projects. We need your support, so please order this fantastic poster today!

A message from Kristine Grayson:
We are pleased to announce that we will be teaching a course in Field Herpetology this summer at Mountain Lake Biological Station, VA. We hope you will share this opportunity with your students. The Field Herpetology course, along with five other excellent courses, can be viewed at: http://mlbs.org/courses.html

The Field Herp course is three weeks and runs from July 12 – 30. We will explore the ecology, behavior, and conservation of amphibians and reptiles, with a focus on amphibians of the Southeast. A large portion of the course will involve field-based exercises to learn methodology for identifying and monitoring a wide variety of species. Course goals also include examining current literature on amphibian and reptile conservation and conducting collaborative research projects.

Both graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to apply. Applications are accepted at http://mlbs.org/genappform/courseapp.htm on a rolling basis. Review of applications for financial aid begins on March 15th. Email krgrayson@virginia.edu to view the syllabus or for any questions about the course.

Best wishes,

Kristine Grayson, University of Virginia and
Linda Green, Georgia Institute of Technology

This is a great example of how museums, zoos and aquariums can get involved with Save The Frogs Day activities. Chicago’s Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum will be celebrating Save The Frogs Day with an array of activities to educate adults and kids about amphibians and to raise money for amphibian conservation efforts. Museum Visitors and Staff will all be encouraged to wear green to show their support for this event.

Here are some of the Museum’s planned activities:

Information/Education Table
Learn some cool frog facts, find info on the threats that frogs are facing and what you can do to help. Play a detective game to solve the case of the disappearing frogs. Take a scavenger hunt to find the frogs around the museum and gather information about those frogs.

Frog Monitoring Network
Representatives from this great local organization will be on hand to show what is involved in becoming a Frog Monitor.

Live Frog Display
See a variety of live frog and toad species from the museum’s living collections.

Academy Collections
Scientists from the Collections Department will be displaying specimens and talking about preservation techniques.

Frog Art
Karen Sako , a local artist will have a few of her students working on a frog mural, which visitors and their children will be encouraged to help paint. She will also be doing a live painting of a frog of her choice and donating one of her already finished frog pieces to a raffle to raise money for SAVE THE FROGS. (Please also see the SAVE THE FROGS Art Contest Page)

Frog Rocks (Frogs Rock!)
Paint a rock to look like a frog! ($3 charge)

Frog Hopping Game – 11am to 12.30
How far can you hop? Compare your hopping skills with different frog species.

Face Painting – 11am to 1pm
Come get your face painted to look like your favorite frog. ($3 charge)

Film Showing – 1pm
Why Frogs Call and Why We Should Listen. Followed by a discussion led by local amphibian expert, Mike Lanoo.

Frog and Toad Feeding – 1pm
Feeding time for our frogs and toads, what do they eat?

Frog Origami – 1pm to 3pm
Create your very own origami frog from recycled paper.

Extras:
• Jim Harris’s DVD ‘Midwestern Frogs and Toads’ will be showing and copies will be available for purchase in the Museum Store.
• Frog and Toad calls will be played throughout the day in the Museum lobby.
• Frog and Toad merchandise will be prominently featured at the front of the Museum Store.
• Visitors will be given a ten percent discount on all amphibian related merchandise in the Museum Store.

Thanks to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum for taking action to SAVE THE FROGS!

When Save The Frogs Art Director Leah Klehn saw how barren are the walls of our brand new headquarters (see below!), she offered to paint us one of her beautiful frog images to lively up the space. I said that would be fantastic, but let’s take it a step further:

Everybody who donates $25 or higher between now and Save The Frogs Day gets their name on Leah’s frog painting, which will hang in the front office of the current Save The Frogs World Headquarters for as long as we are there. That’s our way of thanking you for helping to make Save The Frogs the world’s leading amphibian conservation organization. And as always, everybody who donates $25 or higher automatically becomes a member of SAVE THE FROGS!

Here is the first piece of art Leah ever drew for SAVE THE FROGS!

One from her endangered species collection:

We are pleased to announce that the 2nd Annual Save The Frogs Day will be held on Friday April 30th, 2010. Save The Frogs Day is an event we conceived and coordinate. The goal of Save The Frogs Day is to raise global awareness of amphibian extinctions, and to get people of all ages actively involved in amphibian conservation efforts.

http://savethefrogs.com/day

The 1st Annual Save The Frogs Day was legally recognized by Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and Mayor Gregor Robertson of Vancouver, BC, and Save The Frogs Day educational events took place in at least fifteen countries worldwide. We are working hard to ensure that Save The Frogs Day 2010 events take place at thousands of schools, zoos, museums, and community groups worldwide, and that the day is covered by major news outlets throughout the world.

There are already Save The Frogs Day events planned in the USA, Croatia, Colombia, Italy, India South Africa and Brazil. In the coming weeks, we’ll be listing details of all these events on the Save The Frogs Day webpage.

We need you to get involved! The Save The Frogs Day webpage lists at least 15 ways that teachers, students and schools can take part in Save The Frogs Day activities. We also have ideas for scientists, zoos, museums, musicians, and businesses. And everybody can help by spreading the word…emailing your friends and colleagues, putting a link to Save The Frogs Day on your webpage, etc.

To make Save The Frogs Day huge, we need your financial support!
Frogs are going extinct worldwide. Please help us cover the costs of educational and promotional materials to ensure Save The Frogs Day permeates the distant corners of the planet…as well as the schools in your hometown!