Protected frog topic of debate for some

Whether the mountain yellow-legged frog is designated an endangered species under California law, as an environmental group is asking, will likely not be determined for more than a year.

But the issue seems destined to be another front in the long-running debate of where human prerogatives should stop and environmental protections begin.
 

Rana muscosa, as the frog is known scientifically, has the potential to bring a lot of voices to the discussion, if designated.

“It could impact anything,” from grazing and OHV trails to fishing and water usage, said Jordan Traverso, deputy communications director for the California Department of Fish and Game. “Anything is on the table, really.”

For now, the frog has a lot of hoops to jump through before it can get to that point.

The Fish and Game Commission — a governor-appointed board that oversees the department — has 10 days to review and decide whether to accept the petition by the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity to put the frog on the state’s endangered species list.

The frog is already under federal endangered species protection in Southern California, but not in the north state, though it is under consideration for inclusion, according to Traverso.

The center is concerned the frog will go extinct while waiting for the paperwork to go through.

If its petition is accepted, it will then be passed on to the Department of Fish and Game, which has 90 days to determine whether it has enough information.

If so, a study is launched that is allocated a maximum of a year and usually takes that long, according to Traverso. The study will contain a recommendation that the commission will vote yea or nay on.

To Tim Coons, general manager of Stockton Honda Yamaha, which sells off-road vehicles, the prospect of a new endangered species designation that could cut trail access is all too familiar.

“They’re always finding some way to shut our riding areas down, it seems,” he said. “They’re always trying to say there’s some beetle, butterfly or frog, in this case, that we’re killing them off with our motorcycles.”

To John Buckley, executive director of Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, the situation also looks familiar. But for completely different reasons.

“The mountain yellow-legged frog is just one example of a species that’s been around for thousands of years, and is suddenly teetering on the brink because of changing conditions and human actions,” he said.

Like any other member of an ecosystem, the frog is an irreplaceable link in nature’s complex food chain, he said.

As an example, he cited the Clark’s Nutcracker, an ashy gray and black bird whose taste for pinyon pine nuts is a major factor in spreading and germinating the tree’s seeds.

During the summer, when the nut supply isn’t plentiful, one of the bird’s food supplies is the frog. And if they’re not around, there will be no birds, and no birds means no pines, Buckley explained.   

“When you lose a part of the puzzle, the overall food chain ends up being diminished or frayed to the point of harming other species as well,” he said.

Amy Granat, Northern California director of the California Off-Road Vehicle Association, is concerned about a different cycle.

“What concerns me most is that whenever they seek a petition like this, they never check how it’s going to affect small family businesses, small towns, jobs,” she said.

In a rural area, where dollars trickle down from visitors to all manner of businesses, the damage is particularly great, Granat said.

“Losing tourism dollars ... that can endanger a lot of families’ livelihoods.” she said.

Her organization is concerned about environmental preservation, but doesn’t believe that “continued closures benefit humanity.”

"There’s a cross between what’s best for a community and what’s best for a species,” she said.