The red-legged frog was once common throughout
California, but development has devastated its habitat and reduced
the species to three viable breeding populations. Now, the
amphibian may get the protection it needs to
survive.
On Sept. 8, under pressure from a
federal court order, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated
5.4 million acres in California as proposed critical habitat for
the frog, made famous by Mark Twain’s 1867 story, “The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” The area is a mosaic of riparian
zones and uplands on public and private land from Northern
California south to the Los Angeles region.
Fish
and Wildlife biologist Curt McCasland says he expects the final
habitat to be significantly less than 5.4 million acres, after a
period of public comment and a final study. Because the court order
put the agency under time constraints, McCasland says, the
designation was only an approximation.
McCasland
anticipates resistance from developers, since the designation
includes 3.2 million acres of private land. That means building
projects that require federal permits would be subject to federal
review.
Environmentalists say the announcement
marks a preliminary victory for the
species.
“It’s an important step in getting this
frog back on its feet,” says Jan Erik Hasselman, an attorney for
the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.
Earthjustice
counseled five environmental groups, which sued the government
under the Endangered Species Act. They said the red-legged frog had
been protected as threatened under the ESA since 1996, but had
never had critical habitat designated as required by law.
*Oakley
Brooks
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Red-legged frog habitat slated for protection.
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