The Marcellus shale drilling debacle (pollution vs. fish).

Read the sordid tale here.

I heard this news on this morning’s NPR Morning Edition.

“We were just having a hard time managing that area — we had a lot of illegal dumping, drug use, keggers. It’s surrounded by subdivisions and we were worried about fires.“

Rick Hotaling, Bureau of Land Management field manager in Butte, Mont., about the BLM’s new travel plan in Montana that closed many miles of trails in the Scratchgravel Hills area near Helena.
- Montana Standard

San Francisco, CA – 19-November-2009. In an effort to save California’s critically endangered Yellow-Legged Frogs, the nonprofit organization Save The Frogs has initiated a campaign requesting the National Park Service to remove non-native trout from the naturally fishless lakes of Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. The park is one of the last remaining strongholds of the Yellow-Legged Frogs. These frogs were once the most abundant frogs in California, but have since disappeared from over 90% of their former ponds, in large part due to the introduction of non-native trout, which are voracious predators of tadpoles.

Frog populations in California and worldwide have been declining at unprecedented rates, and nearly one-third of the world’s 6,586 amphibian species are threatened with extinction. Up to 200 species have already completely disappeared. Amphibians are faced with an onslaught of environmental problems, including climate change, pollution, infectious diseases, habitat loss, invasive species, and over-harvesting for the pet and food trades. California’s frog populations have been particularly hard hit by pesticides, introduced trout, invasive bullfrogs, and a deadly chytrid fungus that is being transported around the world by human activities.

Save The Frogs is calling on all citizens to send letters to the National Park Service urging them to remove the trout from Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park. “The Park Service is currently accepting public comments on whether to remove the trout, so this is an excellent opportunity for average citizens to step up and help protect a critically endangered species,” says Dr. Kerry Kriger, Executive Director of Save The Frogs. The group has created a webpage (www.savethefrogs.com/trout) where viewers can quickly send their comments to the Parks Superintendent. But hurry: the Park’s call for comments closes this Saturday, November 21st.

“The amphibian extinction crisis is one of the most significant environmental issues of our time, and it is important for people to understand the causes and extent of the problem, as well as the urgency with which action must be taken if we are to protect remaining amphibian populations,” says Dr. Kriger.

Contact:
Kerry Kriger, Ph.D.

SAVE THE FROGS! Founder, Executive Director and Ecologist

Phone: (703) 376-7945

E-mail: kerry@savethefrogs.com

About SAVE THE FROGS!

SAVE THE FROGS! (http://www.savethefrogs.com) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in May 2008. SAVE THE FROGS! is comprised of an international team of scientists, educators, policymakers and naturalists dedicated to protecting the world’s amphibian species through environmental education, scientific research, legal defense and the acquisition of critical habitat.

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Nice blog entry here. I recall many an ATV/ORV incident, some of them witnessed while hiking on public land.

The Bristol Bay battle in Alaska progresses.

Wake up, people. Here’s more evidence.

There are, without a doubt, many other such unnatural stories in the out-of-doors. Here’s the one from Lake Superior.

Good. Read about ithere. I don’t like the comparison to the northern spotted owl that much, though.