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The endangered California red-legged frog, made famous in the animal-loving author’s short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” and hunted to near-extinction for its legs, now has protected habitat in the picturesque Northern California area.
Locally, the critter can hop around some 4,231 protected acres of mostly Angeles National Forest near Castaic, flanking San Franciscquito Creek, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Field Supervisor Al Donner.
The amphibian became well-known thanks to Twain’s tale, but its popularity later peaked for a more or less savory reason — frogs’ legs became a popular item on gourmet menus.
When California red-legged frogs became nearly extinct, bullfrogs were shipped to the state and dumped into rivers and ponds to boost restaurants’ supply of fresh frog legs, Donner said.
That didn’t turn out well for the apparently tasty California red-legged frogs, who also became a gourmet dish for the newly arrived bullfrogs.
To top it off, development destroyed the amphibians’ habitat throughout the state.
Faced with declining populations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took measures to protect the habitat of the state’s iconic frog in 2006.
None of that habitat was in Calaveras County — until now.
Fish and Wildlife officials announced Tuesday that they expanded the threatened frog’s protected habitat to areas including parts of Calaveras County.
“They’re a part of our natural ecology, and as we know all pieces go together,” Donner said.
He said the frog is the largest native frog in the Western United States. And it eats a lot of insects, keeping bug populations under control.
“If you pull one piece out,” he said, “you don’t know what’ll happen.”
Now, the Fish and Wildlife Service is battling an invasive bullfrog population while trying to secure habitat for the red-legged frogs, Donner said.
The federal government’s original critical habitat designation spanned 4 million acres in California, but was scaled back in 2006 after a legal battle with developers. This newest 1.6 million-acre designation, which goes into effect in April, is a compromise, Donner said.
The addition of acres in Calaveras County wasn’t a nod to Twain, Donner said. The frogs were thought to no longer live in Calaveras County but were rediscovered there six years ago, he said.
