Feds to set critical habitat for endangered frog

WJTV.com ^ | 11 June 2012 | JANET McCONNAUGHEY

[smokingfrog]

NEW ORLEANS --

NEW ORLEANS (AP) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is designating nearly 6,500 acres in Mississippi and Louisiana as critical habitat for the endangered Mississippi gopher frog the only endangered or threatened frog in the Southeast. About 100 live in the wild, and nearly 900 in zoos.

The land includes about 1,540 acres in St. Tammany Parish, La., and in Mississippi, about 3,500 acres of federal land, 264 acres owned by the state and the rest private.

Edward Poitevent, whose family owns most of the Louisiana land, has been fighting the designation. He says he cannot comment until he reads the full notice to be published Tuesday in the Federal Register.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Sure did. The old UZ1 still works although the viewfinder only shows black and white now.

That was the first superzoom. The lens is a Canon, the optics are superb.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

They need soil conditions suitable for burrows.

[Woodsman27]

I see no reason to spend money or effort to protect a species that cannot adapt to the industrialized world. If it cannot survive on its own we do not need it.

[SgtBob]

Great; use a “cool” fire, hickory stick, with bark still on, and a shake or two of Zaterain’s....;-)

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Here is a photo of a pair of broadheaded skinks I found on my patio one night after work last month.

Just a little Canon point and shoot, but digital cameras these days are pretty amazing, even the cheap ones. I have four Canons with CHDK on them. I use it to capture RAW files, do some HDR photos, and to do some time-lapse photography.

[smokingfrog]

Poitevent sounds like he’s not going to back down.

Edward Poitevent is of counsel in the New Orleans office of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC. His practice focuses on all phases of domestic and international energy/mineral law and natural resources law.

[Humble Servant]

I’d reply with a photo of a pair of skinkheaded broads I met in the pub last week, but propriety forbids it.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I hope he can stop them.

Somebody has to.

[RobinOfKingston]

Cute little bugger (the frog, not Mr Poitevent). Were I he (Mr Poitevent, not the frog) I would begin taking extended walks about my property carrying a frog skewer.

[Crucial]

Because of course animals are more important than people.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Cameras really are getting better. I still like to play with the old ones but they are a lot of hassle.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

These frogs may be beneficial, but does the FedGov really have to steal hundreds of acres of a private citizen’s land to protect them?

[Smokin' Joe]

If you own timber, and the area is designated critical habitat, you will likely never get to harvest that timber so long as you are saddled with that designation. Imagine millions of dollars worth of trees rotting on the root, and you can't cut any of them down because of a frog. But you still have to pay taxes on your land, or lose it.

Agenda 21 continues...

[Smokin' Joe]

I fully understand that some critters are necessary to the way things work in the boonies. However, half of the land they want to designate as critical habitat is already Federal or State owned. The frogs would likely survive many uses of the private land, including timbering operations, although it is likely a few would get killed. Not every one of those frogs would have missed out on being part of the food chain anyway. Let the Government decide what it will do with the land it already has in its possession, and let the rest on private land be strictly voluntary.