Proposed Protection for 'Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'

The California red-legged frog, the species thought to be the star of Mark Twain's short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, has been the center of an ongoing controversy between the US FWS, land developers, and conservationists. The species, listed as an Endangered Species since 1996, has continued to decline.

In March 2001, 4 million acres was proposed as critical habitat for the frog. This proposal quickly attracted legal action from area homebuilders and land developers who claimed that its economic impact was underestimated and that little scientific evidence supported the need for such a wide expanse of protected lands.

In November 2002, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, bowing to pressures of homebuilders and developers, was ordered to withdraw their proposal to protect 4 million acres of habitat for the California red-legged frog. All but a mere 200,000 acres of the frog's habitat remained slated for protection.

Find out more:

• About the California red-legged frong
• Critical habitat reproposed for California red-legged frog
• Red Legged Frog Habitat Protections Overturned