Efforts to Reintroduce Endangered Yellow-Legged Frog Proceed Parallel with Forest Service Activities that May Affect the Species

Brian Freiermuth has reported on efforts to reintorduce Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog to the Desolation Wilderness to bolster existing populations.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Relief at Upper Echo Lake Overshadowed by Prescribed Burns Elsewhere in the Region

On the heels of a settlement agreement that signals the end of the Forest Service's plans to cut, pile, and burn vegetation around Upper Echo Lake south of Lake Tahoe, there are grim reminders of continuing agency mismanagement of forestry resources in the vicinity.

First, prescribed burns in the El Dorado and Lake Tahoe National Forests contributed to poor air quality in the region, as reported here.  This led regulators to encourage Washoe County residents to stay indoors.

Second, according to reporter Jason Hidalgo, the Little Valley Fire, which has destroyed dozens of homes and other buildings in Washoe Valley, may have been caused by prescribed burns in the area.

Federal and state forestry agencies are staunch advocates for prescribed burns.  We wonder if there is empirical research to support their position.  At least one expert thinks otherwise as reported some time ago on the NEPA Lab blog.  Robert E. Keane in his book Wildland Fuel Fundamentals and Application (Springer 2…
Read more

Context for Forest Service Action

Image
This image provides wonderful context to assess the Forest Service's ill-conceived Upper Echo Lake Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.

Notice how sparse the vegetation is at this elevation.  Certainly when one thinks about wildfire risk, this is not the image the mind conjures.
Read more

Upper Echo Lake Playing Key Role in Conservation of Yellow Legged Frog

Claire Cudahy of the Tahoe Daily Tribune reported that trout introductions played a key role in the decline of the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog. Recently progress has been made toward conservation of the species.

"From 2013-2015 Knapp and his team conducted a series of translocations and frog reintroductions in the areas around the Upper and Lower Echo lakes; they recently received another three-year grant to continue the work this summer."
Rather than deny the importance of the area to this endangered frog, the Forest Service should embrace it.
Read more