Red-legged frogs get 48-acre preserve in Sierra

SFGate.com ^ | 11/24/10 | David Perlman

[NormsRevenge]

The California red-legged frog, threatened for decades by spreading subdivisions, pesticides and logging, has found a sanctuary in the Sierra Nevada.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife has approved an agreement between two conservation organizations permanently protecting a 48-acre site known as the Big Gun Preserve near Foresthill in Placer County. The wildlife service listed the frogs as threatened in 1966 under the Endangered Species Act.

The land is owned by a unique nonprofit company called Westervelt Ecological Services, the conservation arm of a century-old Alabama lumber company, which buys up properties to preserve wildlife habitats and endangered natural environments.

The Westervelt organization teamed with the Placer Land Trust, a nonprofit in Auburn, to create the special conservation easement in an area that is habitat for the largest population of red-legged frogs in California, said Jessica Pierce, the trust's assistant director.

The site lies next to the Tahoe National Forest and includes several ponds, ponderosa pines, woodlands and chaparral. It was badly degraded during the Gold Rush, Pierce said. Under the agreement, the Placer organization will now protect it with fencing and improve its frog habitat.

[Red Badger]

[ColdOne]

LOLF! I wonder how they are in soup....Oh yeah the horror!

[Doogle]

"how does anyone know if these things aren't "planted""

[yoe]

Watch for CA to ask for a Bailout in 2011....the state is broke. Teachers, fire fighters, emergency crews etc. will be the first to go....the price of Frog legs just went up.

Woops, forgot.....UNIONS: they will be the last to go even when the state collapses under the weight of bankruptcy. Crime will be the winner. No Money to California!

[CholeraJoe]

I’ll bet them Red-legged frogs is good eatin’ if’n you catch enough of them.

[Red Badger]

[Sacajaweau]

Fencing....

would that be redwood or cedar fencing?

And that "destructive" goldrush brought settlers to the west!!

All this for a dumb a** frog????

I'm guessing these "conservation" companies are getting HUGE, REAL HUGE rightoffs and some very "specialized" contracts that they will eventually cash in on.

[Rogle]

Not sure a frog would make a good Artilleryman.

[w1andsodidwe]

Does anyone realize how much useless undeveloped land there is in the mountains of California. How will they keep the frog on this property? How will they prevent predators from getting on the property? Liberal insanity.

Perhaps the frog by my backdoor on Saturday night after the rain had red legs. I didn't go and look, but he seemed to be fine coexisting in my neighborhood. Maybe I should set aside my front patio as a preserve for him. He seems to like it there.

[b4its2late]

[b4its2late]

[ColdOne]

Ha ha ha.. Oh the Hugh-man-e-tee!

[Inyo-Mono]

Does anyone realize how much useless undeveloped land there is in the mountains of California. How will they keep the frog on this property? How will they prevent predators from getting on the property? Liberal insanity.

Yes I do, I live in the Sierra. There are millions of acres of wilderness here.

[Iron Munro]

Mark this location down. After TSHTF and we're all living in our cardboard
crates in Obamavilles those frog legs will provide some nourishing meals.

[tcrlaf]

If this is a PRIVATE initiative, I’m all for it. THIS is the way to conserve wildlands and wildlife, not sending money to Democrats and then begging for tax money.

[SeeSac]

If this is a PRIVATE initiative, I’m all for it. THIS is the way to conserve wildlands and wildlife, not sending money to Democrats and then begging for tax money.

Hmmm. More to the story. US Fish and Wildlife approval required? Endangered species.

[hinckley buzzard]

This was a deal between two nonprofits interested in conserving significant sites. Nature Conservancy has done the same thing for many years, protecting millions of acres of land which are unique and irreplaceable, by cooperatively entering into agreements with private landowners. They sometimes turn land over to the Parks Service or other governmental agency, but the end result doesn't change, and it frees up resources to make arrangements on parcels like this one-- a pinpoint on the map but serving a special purpose.

I don't know anything about redleg frogs but I'm glad there's a tiny spot we humans set aside for them. What the hell- why not?

[BenLurkin]

Insanity.

[bunkerhill7]

old headline:

2008-9 ...Yellow-Bellied Coward gets 18-acre preserve in Washington, DC