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CBD AND PRC FILE 60-DAY NOTICE LETTER OF INTENT TO SUE FWS
FOR STALLING ON ESA PROTECTION OF YOSEMITE TOAD AND MOUNTAIN YELLOW-LEGGED FROG
March 12, 2001
Berkeley, California
For Immediate Release: 3/12/01
The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and
Pacific Rivers
Council (PRC) filed a 60-day notice letter of intent to sue the U. S. Fish
and Wildlife Service (FWS) last week for stalling Endangered Species Act
(ESA) protection for two Sierra Nevada amphibians. The FWS has illegally
delayed processing of petitions to list the Yosemite toad (Bufo canorus) and
the Sierra Nevada population of the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana
muscosa) under the ESA. The petitions, which were submitted by CBD and PRC
over one year ago, documented significant and alarming declines in the range
and abundance of both amphibians. On October 12, 2000, FWS issued a finding
that the petitions presented substantial information indicating that listing
both amphibians may be warranted. FWS was required to make a final
determination of listing status by March 2, 2001 for the mountain
yellow-legged frog, and by March 6, 2001 for the Yosemite toad.
"We're in danger of losing what were once the two most common
high Sierra
amphibians," said Jeff Miller, spokesman for the Center for Biological
Diversity. "Both species clearly warrant immediate listing as endangered.
The rapid disappearance of the Yosemite toad and the mountain yellow-legged
frog from the Sierra Nevada is part of a disturbing global pattern of
amphibian decline. This should concern us, because the health of amphibian
populations are an indicator of the health of our aquatic habitats and
atmospheric conditions."
"The Fish and Wildlife Service’s foot-dragging in protecting these
declining amphibians under the Endangered Species Act is both inexcusable
and illegal," added Laura Hoehn, an attorney with Earthjustice Legal Defense
Fund, which is representing CBD and PRC in this case. "Inaction may lead to
extinction," she said.
The mountain yellow-legged frog was historically the most
abundant frog in
the Sierra Nevada. It was widely distributed in high elevation water bodies
from southern Plumas County to southern Tulare County. Recent surveys found
that the species has disappeared from 70 to 90 percent of its historic
localities. Remaining frog populations are widely scattered and consist of
few breeding adults. What was recently thought to be one of the largest
remaining populations, containing over 2000 adult frogs in 1996, has
completely collapsed - only two frogs were found in the same area in 1999.
The Yosemite toad was historically common in the high country of the
central Sierra Nevada, from Fresno to Alpine Counties. Recent surveys
report that it has disappeared from a majority of historic sites. Declines
have been especially alarming in Yosemite National Park, with studies at
Tioga Pass documenting wholesale population crashes. Both amphibian species
and their habitats have been adversely impacted by introduced fish,
pesticides, ozone depletion, pathogens, and cattle grazing.
"Amphibians are the watershed equivalent of 'canaries in the
coal mine'"
said Deanna Spooner of the Pacific Rivers Council. "This is particularly
true of the Sierra Nevada, where over half of the native amphibians are in
decline or warrant some type of formal protection. Yet the federal
government's new Framework Plan for managing Sierra national forests
contains virtually no enforceable protections for amphibians."
The greatest threats to the mountain yellow-legged frog and
the Yosemite
toad are:
- Pesticides and other airborne chemical pollutants which drift from the
Central Valley may play a role. Pollutants cause direct mortality and
delay, alter, or reduce breeding and feeding activity and larval
development. Pollutants also act as environmental stressors which render
amphibians more susceptible to aquatic pathogens.
- Livestock grazing. Cattle and sheep remove wetland vegetation used by
amphibians for cover and egg laying. Overgrazing also alters wetland
hydrology, eliminating breeding habitat for the toad.
- Introduced fish species, primarily non-native trout, which
may prey upon
larval and juvenile frogs and toads. While toads can breed in fishless,
ephemeral pools, trout have eliminated toads from many of the deeper
permanent water bodies that provide refuge for toads during drought periods.
- Drought and ultraviolet radiation also are being studied as possible
factors for the decline of the Yosemite toad, the yellow-legged frog, and
other amphibians.
Photographs of the frog and toad as well as further
information on both
species are available on the CBD web site at
http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/
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The Center for Biological Diversity is a nonprofit conservation
organization founded in 1989, dedicated to preserving imperiled wildlife and
their habitats. The Center's "Golden State Biodiversity Initiative" has
successfully petitioned and litigated to place 76 California species under
the protection of the Endangered Species Act since 1993. The Center has
5,000 members and has offices in Berkeley and San Diego, California; Silver
City, New Mexico; and Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona.
The Pacific Rivers Council is a national conservation
organization working
to protect and restore rivers, their watersheds and native aquatic species.
Pacific Rivers has offices in Eugene and Portland, Oregon; Berkeley,
California; Polson, Montana; and Damascus, Virginia.
Previous litigation by Earthjustice on behalf of CBD and PRC
resulted in
protection for another native amphibian, the California red-legged frog.
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service designated 4.1 million acres throughout
California for the red-legged frog on March 6, 2001.
Contact Information:
Deanna Spooner
California Projects Director
Pacific Rivers Council
1017 University Ave., Ste. 206
Berkeley, CA 94710
ph: 510.548.3887 fax: 510.548.3776
deanna@pacrivers.org
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