California Red-legged frog (Rana aurora draytonii)

Threats

California Red-legged frog The Red-legged frog has been listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service since 1996 and is the largest native frog in the western U.S. It is also the species made famous by Mark Twain in The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County. Red-legged frogs have been eliminated from more than 70 percent of their historic habitat and are thought to be almost completely extirpated from the Sierra Nevada (99% loss of historic range). Habitat loss is a major cause for the elimination of this species from the Sierra Nevada and has come about due to development pressures, dams and diversion, road construction, livestock grazing, timber harvesting, and mining. Other causes for their extirpation are the prevalence of pesticide and herbicide in their core habitat and the introduction of non-native bull frogs which prey on the species. This frog was a sought-after gourmet menu item for San Francisco restaurants last century, and over-hunting by early European settlers also contributed to the species decline.

Habitat

The habitat of Red-legged frogs, labeled as riparian-upland, is identified as habitat within a distance of 200 feet from the edge of the aquatic, riparian, or wetland habitat. This habitat includes structure that provides shade, moisture and cooler temperatures and can include boulders, rocks, woody debris, downed logs, or man made objects. They require these riparian and upland areas for their dense vegetation and open areas for cover, hibernation areas, food sources, and reproduction and spawning grounds. Recent research on California red-legged frog movement suggests that these frogs are primarily aquatic, especially during the breeding season, and typically remain at or very close to the breeding pond. It is estimated that upwards of 75% of the species historic habitat has been lost, removed, or significantly degraded.

Conservation

Due to the fact that the Red-legged frog is nearly extinct throughout the Sierra Nevada, only a significant change to land management practices and a cessation of some of the activities which threaten aquatic habitat in the remaining areas thought to support the species will bring about hope for a future for them in the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Nevada Framework Plan of 2001 provides strategies to reduce all the factors causing a decline in Red-legged frog populations including prohibition of pesticides from frog habitat, removing livestock near lakes and pond areas, prohibiting development of new recreation trails that would affect known frog sites, and the identification of Critical Aquatic Refuges to protect sensitive species. The 2004 revisions to the Framework have weakened the protections for this species by failing to maintain grazing restrictions for amphibian species in key habitats. A return to a robust monitoring and restoration program as promoted and required by the original Sierra Nevada Framework is vital in the effort to protect the species from disappearing form the Sierra Nevada altogether.

Status

A federally listed threatened species since 1996, the Red-legged frog has had a long struggle to ensure the protection of the habitat that is vital to its survival. In 2001 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated 4.1 million acres as critical habitat for the species and reaffirmed that decision in 2004 following a string of legal appeals filed on behalf of the Homebuilders Association of Northern California which saw the critical habitat designation reduced to 200,000 acres in 2002 (following a closed-door Consent Decree agreement between the USFWS and developers). In 2006 however, the USFWS reversed its decision once again under pressure from developers and reduced the critical habitat designation to approximately 450,000 acres. In July of 2007, the USFWS announced that it was undertaking a review of decisions made by former Assistant Deputy Secretary Julie MacDonald. Among the many damaging decisions made during her tenure were decisions made regarding the Red-legged frog which favored developers at the expense of imperiled wildlife. While the USFWS has been succumbing to political and special interest pressure and ignoring both the best available science and the letter and intent of the Endangered Species Act, this amphibian has continued to plummet toward complete extirpation from the Sierra Nevada.