The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set aside nearly 2 million acres of land for the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, the mountain yellow-legged frog and the Yosemite toad as critical habitat.
The Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog (Rana sierrae), the mountain yellow-legged frog (Rana muscosa), and the Yosemite toad (Anaxyrus canorus), all endangered species, are now protected on nearly 3,000 square miles of land deemed critical habitat in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains. The majority of the land is federal public lands, national forests, and national parks.
Devin Edmonds, USGS
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has set aside nearly 2 million acres of land for the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, the mountain yellow-legged frog and the Yosemite toad as critical habitat.
The U.S. Forest Service has set aside 1,082,147 acres of critical habitat for the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog; 221,498 acres for the northern population of the mountain yellow-legged frog; and 750,926 acres for the Yosemite toad.
Both the Sierra Nevada and mountain yellow-legged frogs have experienced significant declines of up to 90 percent over the last several decades, disappearing from the bodies of water in the Sierras in which they lived.
The decline of these amphibians is attribtued to habitat destruction, the introduction of non-native trout to their home bodies of water, pesticides and climate change, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.
