Federally listed as "threatened," the California
red-legged frog’s jumping prowess was first celebrated in 1865
by Mark Twain comedic sketch The Celebrated Frog Jumping Contest
of Calaveras County. And now the largest native frog in the western
US will lose protection for much of its "critical habitat"
in West Marin under a draft proposal released by US Fish and Wildlife.
This will bring relief to farmers in the area who would otherwise have
to make expensive accomodations to the frogs.
After being sued by environmental groups in 1999,
Fish and Wildlife released a proposal in 2004 that would designate some
4.1 million acres statewide which included virtually all of West Marin,
nearly 200,000 acres. But now Fish and Wildlife has released a draft
that slashes the red-legged frog’s critical habitat in West Marin
by 75 percent, and 80 percent statewide.
Critical habitat areas require landowners to consult
with Fish and Wildlife before undertaking any development that could
threaten the threatened species’ survival.
Fish and Wildlife Service sued by
everybody
After environmentalists filed their lawsuit in 1999,
a coalition of developers and builders filed a countersuit that resulted
in the new proposal. Environmental advocates say that Fish and Wildlife
biologists, under intense political pressure from the Washington, have
caved to business interests and the Bush administration.
Survey showed political pressure pervasive
throughout federal agency
Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity
cited a survey conducted by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental
advocacy group that polled 1,400 staff members at Fish and Wildlife
earlier this year.
Directed by management not to complete the survey,
30 percent did so anyway. The results, released this February, found
that:
• 44 percent of those working on endangered
species reported that they "have been directed, for non-scientific
reasons, to refrain from making findings that are protective of species."
• 20 percent of agency scientists revealed
they have been instructed to compromise their scientific integrity.
• 56 percent reported cases where commercial
interests (or political intervention) had induced the reversal or withdrawal
of scientific conclusions or decisions.
• 42 percent reported they could not openly
express "concerns about the biological needs of species and habitats
without fear of retaliation" in public. Some 30 percent felt they
could not do so even inside the agency itself.
• 32 percent felt they are not allowed
to do their jobs as scientists.
Cummings said that political pressure on Fish and
Wildlife often leaves environmental advocates with little alternative
than to sue.
"Fish and Wildlife Service does very little for
endangered species unless they’re pushed and pulled by litigation,"
he said.
Builders are happy, environmentalists
regroup
Builders have praised the revised proposal,
arguing that it takes a more balanced approach between wild animals
and human needs.
"We’re happier with this than we were with
the original," spokesman Dennis Oliver of California Alliance for
Jobs said. The group, he said, represents heavy industry contractors
and unions working to improve the state’s infrastructure.
"The original [proposal] simply did not take
into account the impact on the state’s economy," he said.
"Frogs and human beings have to coexist -- we have to set aside
human habitat as well."
Already environmental groups are mustering their forces
to challenge the newest proposal.
"We’re going to be fighting for the red-legged
frog with every fiber of our being," said attorney Brent Prater
of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of several environmental
groups that sued Fish and Wildlife. "We’re not going to give
up just because a handful of developers find it expedient to have the
species go unprotected."
Critical Habitat in West Marin
In West Marin, 22,559 acres along Walker Creek of
mostly private land and 25,995 acres in the southwest section of the
Point Reyes National Seashore would be designated critical habitat under
the new propsal. Environmental advocates charge that the reduced
areas of critical habitat is inadequate for the species to recover enough
to be taken off the federal registry of threatened species.
Marin Resource Conservation District Manager Nancy
Scolari, who routinely helps West Marin ranchers with the permitting
process, said that in her experience only one project was ever affected
by red-legged frog habitat.
She recalled a project designed to prevent sediment
runoff from a ranch into Walker Creek which had created "beautiful
habitat" for the native frog.
"Because of the frog, you have take extra precautions
and consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service," she said. That
in itself isn’t a problem, though the permits can be expensive
and Fish and Wildlife staff can be few and far between when a rancher
has questions, she said.
"They’re spread so thinly around the state
they can be hard to reach – and I think they’d agree with
that assessment," she added.
Public Comment open till February
The new proposal is open to public comment
until Feb. 1, 2006.
In March, the US Department of Interior is expected
to make a final declaration which – barring legal challenge –
will dramaticly shrink the frog’s critical habitat in California.
Nickles stressed that the comment period is open and
welcomed public input before the plan is certified by the federal agency.
"If there are places that people feel that [red-legged
frogs] should be included then we would like people to tell us,"
he said.