Public Comment Sought on Yellow-Legged Frog Habitat Restoration

Published on Jul 24, 2008 - 7:23:11 AM

By: USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Mgt. Unit

South Lake Tahoe, Calif. July 23, 2008 - The Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in cooperation with California Department of Fish and Game and US Fish and Wildlife Service, is seeking public comment on a proposal to restore Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frog habitat in the Desolation Wilderness by removing brook and rainbow trout from seven high mountain lakes.

The proposal affects Ralston, Tamarack, Cagwin, Margery, Lucille, Le Conte and Jabu lakes and associated ponds and streams (to the nearest upstream and downstream fish barrier). The proposed lakes were selected due to their proximity to current populations of the frogs, which are under consideration for Endangered Species Act listing.

Prior to the 1950s, alpine lakes in the Desolation Wilderness were fishless and supported viable frog populations. Predation by introduced non-native fish is the best documented reason for the elimination of the frogs from more than 90 percent of their native habitat.

Forest Service staff will hike into the Desolation Wilderness and set gillnets, which will they will leave in place over the winter and revisit the following field season. They will use backpack electroshockers to remove fish from connecting streams.

Research supports the recovery of frog populations after fish removal. The neighboring Eldorado National Forest has a substantial source population of frogs and began removing fish from three lakes last year. Based on previous studies, Forest Service biologists believe that frogs from the El Dorado will move into newly restored habitat in the LTBMU portion of the Desolation.

Although the project will result in the loss of fishing opportunities in the seven proposed lakes, other lakes in Desolation Wilderness have been identified as recreational fishing lakes and will be stocked in the future by California Department of Fish and Game.

Comments will be most helpful if submitted by August 22, 2008. The proposed action, including information how to provide comments, and a map are posted on the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit website at http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/projects. For more information on the proposed action, contact Sarah Muskopf at (530) 543-2835 or smuskopf@fs.fed.us.

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