NEWS_WEEK1 POST WITH REMNANTS OF EDEN August 8, 1993 Contra Costa Times "Biologist hopes to save celebrated frog" By James Bruggers Staff writer Lose the California red-legged frog and you not only flirt with biological danger, you sacrifice the living legacy of a key character in American literature. So says a Northern California wildlife biologist. "It's the frog that made Mark Twain famous," says Mark Jennings of Davis, who knows red-leggeds and is behind an effort to win the amphibian protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. Twain's "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" first appeared as a short story under a different title in 1865. Two years later, it was the title story in the legendary author's first book. "The story changed Twain from just a little-known backwoods humorist to a popular humorist," Jennings says. "It was definitely based on a red-legged frog." In the story, Twain described a betting man, Jim Smiley, and his leaping frog. "He'd give him a little punch behind," Twain wrote, "and the next minute you'd see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut--see him turn one summerset, or maybe a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat footed and all right, like a cat." The story inspired the annual frog-jumping contest in Angels Camp. Twain became famous, but for the red-legged, the state's largest native frog, it has been downhill since. Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined a petition by Jennings and two others to list the species as threatened or endangered was warranted. That move was important in granting the frog the same protection as the northern spotted owl, a threatened species whose listing has stalled timber-cutting in Pacific Northwest old-growth forests. A final ruling could be a year and a half away, says Karen Miller, a Sacramento-based Fish and Wildlife Service biologist. "There is significant hard data that suggest things are going poorly for the (frog) species," she says. The 5- to 6-inch-long frog's strong, red legs were good not only for jumping; people considered them darn tasty too. Market hunters harvested 80,000 red-leggeds a year between 1890 and 1900, Miller says. Most went to San Francisco. Then came the effect of farming in the Central Valley, where ponds were drained and filled. In all, red-leggeds have lost more than 75 percent of their habitat, Jennings says. MANY IN EAST BAY Red-leggeds also are food for non-native predators, the relative newcomer bullfrogs, sunfish, blue-gills, and largemouth bass. Significant populations remain in the East Bay, says Joe DiDonato, wildlife specialist for the East Bay Regional Park District. The frogs inhabit cattle ponds on private grazing lands, and some of the district's Contra Costa and Alameda county parks. One such pond in Morgan Territory Regional Preserve teems with life even under burning, 100-degree summer heat. Thousands of colorful dragonflies buzz over the murky brown water. Tadpoles swim near the shore. Up to four species of frogs hide among the cattails. Several golden eagles roost in nearby trees. "These areas are real important for wildlife," DiDonato says. "There are ponds like this all across the district." One by one, workers are fencing off park ponds to keep cows and people away, DiDonato says. Water flows through pipes to troughs outside the fences, where cattle and other animals can drink. If red-leggeds are listed as endangered, the pace of protection will quicken across the state. The listing would make it difficult for farmers or developers to alter or destroy ponds that contain frogs, says Gary Beeman, a Lafayette wildlife biologist and consultant. Increased restrictions would be questioned by industry groups that find the Endangered Species Act, one of the toughest environmental laws in the nation, difficult to work with. "The ramifications of any species being listed are generally the same," says Kassandra R. Fletcher, environmental affairs director for the Building Industry Association of Northern California. "Our social and economics institutions need to be concerned." Society needs to make value judgments on which wildlife and plant species are most important to protect, she says. It cannot afford to preserve everything. "It's not as callous as saying we should save the bald eagle because it's fuzzy and cute, but not a frog because it is green and slimy," Fletcher adds. "But the general public would say that saving bald eagles is more important than saving insects." Beeman says he's not sure red-legged frogs should be the next species to have extra protections. But the species is important, he says. California red-leggeds are considered indicators of an ecological system's health, he says. They and other amphibians are especially sensitive to subtle changes in the environment, including pollution. "Everyone thinks, 'So what if we lose another damned frog,'" Beeman says. "Well, another link in the chain is broken. Sooner or later it is going to come back to Homo sapiens. People need to be wise enough to recognize this." In Contra Costa, threatened or endangered status also might affect the planned Los Vaqueros Reservoir. "It has one of the largest remaining red-legged frog populations in the Central Valley watershed," Miller says. WHY ARE NUMBERS DOWN? Contra Costa Water District, which is developing the East County reservoir, has proposed creating 34 acres of frog habitat to compensate for 17 acres that would be flooded. "We think our mitigation plan will more than compensate for any impacts," says Al Donner, CCWD spokesman. It should be easy to create red-legged frog habitat because the species does not migrate long distances, some biologists say. "Just build a stock pond," Beeman says. However, it isn't clear whether that will be sufficient. "Is mitigation possible? I don't think we really know that yet," Miller says. "Nobody has really tried." The decline of the California red-legged frog is part of a larger mystery. Scientists report a global loss of amphibians including salamanders, newts and toads. So far, there is no conclusive explanation. Loss or change of habitat is part of the problem, DiDonato says. Surveys in regional parks reveal virtually no red-leggeds where the more aggressive non-native bullfrogs or introduced fish have invaded, DiDonato says. Biologist say something else is happening, too. Amphibians might be harmed by ultraviolet radiation from a thinning of the Earth's protective ozone layer, some say. Others suggest acid rain might be responsible. Research in Sequoia National Park indicates acid fallout from air pollution is stored in winter snowpack, then flushes into the ponds and lakes during the spring breeding season, DiDonato says. Jennings isn't so sure. If acid rain was affecting amphibians, it also would affect fish, Jennings says. "The fish are fine." It's more likely that amphibians' immune systems are somehow being compromised, he says. In some cases, dozens of frogs will die off at once for no apparent reason, while fish swim vigorously nearby. Biologists agree on one thing: More research is needed. Though Mark Twain's stories are timeless, time for the red-legged frog might be running out. Says Jennings: "Our feeling was unless you stop some of the (negative) land-use practices, these animals are going to completely disappear or, for all practical purposes, will be gone." .