Toads in Southern Rockies, Utah,
Nevada, Idaho Suffering From Disease, Habitat Destruction
DENVER—Press Release 4/11/12 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today determined that boreal toads in the southern Rocky Mountains,
Utah, southern Idaho and northeastern Nevada may qualify for Endangered Species
Act protection. This unique population of toads is in steep decline due to a
deadly fungal disease and habitat destruction. Today’s announcement responds to
a 2011 petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity, Rocky Mountain Wild
(formerly Center for Native Ecosystems) and Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.
“We’re thrilled that the boreal toad is one step closer to the
Endangered Species Act protection that it needs to survive and recover,” said
Center for Biological Diversity attorney and biologist Collette Adkins Giese,
who is the world’s only attorney focused solely on protecting endangered
amphibians and reptiles. “By addressing threats like destruction of wetland
habitat we can still save these rare amphibians. But the window of opportunity
is closing fast.”
Once widely distributed and common in the western United States, the
boreal toad has experienced dramatic declines over the past few decades. The
toad’s status is particularly precarious in the southern Rocky Mountains, where
a globally occurring amphibian disease known as chytrid fungus has wiped out
most remaining boreal toad populations.
“The boreal toad is the region’s only alpine, forest-dwelling toad,”
said conservation biologist Megan Mueller of Rocky Mountain Wild. “This unique
toad is an indicator of the environmental health of our mountain streams and
wetlands. Protections offered by the Endangered Species Act are the only
certain means to safeguard the toad from extinction.”
Endangered Species Act protection for the toad will likely increase
federal funding for research to stem the deadly chytrid fungus and help save
high-elevation stream and wetland habitat from threats like pollution and
poorly managed recreation and livestock grazing. The Endangered Species Act has
prevented extinction for 99.9 percent of the species it protects.
“Today’s finding by the Service recognizes the most recent and best
available body of science establishing the imperiled status of the boreal toad,”
said Duane Short, wild species program director for Biodiversity Conservation
Alliance. “Our hope is that the agency will continue to follow this science and
provide long-overdue Endangered Species Act protection for the boreal toad.”
Today’s decision, called a 90-day finding, initiates a full review of
the toad’s status by the Fish and Wildlife Service, which must make a final
finding on Endangered Species Act protection within a year.
Background
In response to a 1993 petition filed by the Biodiversity Legal
Foundation (later incorporated into the Center for Biological Diversity), the
Service determined in 1995 that boreal toads in the southern Rockies deserved
protection under the Endangered Species Act but that higher-priority actions
precluded listing. The agency added the southern Rocky Mountain population to
its candidate list, which currently includes more than 250 species, most of
which have been waiting decades for protection.
Under the Bush administration, in 2005, the Service reversed course and
made matters even worse by removing boreal toads from the candidate list. The
agency concluded that boreal toads in the southern Rockies were not
“significant,” in part because they appeared genetically similar to other
populations found elsewhere in the West.
Since then, two genetic studies have proven that boreal toads in the
southern Rockies are part of an evolutionarily significant “clade” that
includes boreal toads in Utah, northeastern Nevada and southern Idaho. This
group of boreal toads contains as much genetic diversity as previously
recognized species. Today’s finding by the Service recognizes the scientific
evidence showing that these genetically unique boreal toads are experiencing
significant declines in population size and distribution.
Mounting scientific evidence shows that amphibians are among the most
imperiled species on Earth. Ubiquitous toxins, global warming, nonnative predators,habitat destruction and disease are key factors leading to their demise. The Center for
Biological Diversity is conducting a coast-to-coast investigation to find and
seek protection for the country’s most vulnerable but least protected frogs,
toads and salamanders. For more information about the Center’s campaign to stop
the amphibian extinction crisis, visit http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/amphibian_conservation/index.html.
Contact:
Collette Adkins Giese, Center for Biological Diversity, (651)
955-3821
Megan Mueller, Rocky Mountain Wild, (303) 546-0214 x 6
Duane Short, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, (307) 742-7978
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