Feds want 700,000-plus acres for frog critical habitat in California

By Michael Doyle | 01/13/2025 01:51 PM EST

The frog populations were listed under the ESA in August of 2023.

A foothill yellow-legged frog

A foothill yellow-legged frog sits in a shallow edge of the Feather River in California. Rebecca Fabbri/USFWS

Four populations of California’s foothill yellow-legged frog would be protected with the help of 760,071 acres of designated critical habitat, under a Fish and Wildlife Service proposal made public Monday.

The proposed critical habitat includes forested portions of the wildfire-prone Sierra Nevada as well as the Santa Cruz mountains and coastal areas.

Together, the proposed critical habitat is designed to support the endangered South Sierra and South Coast populations and the threatened North Feather and Central Coast populations of the yellow-legged frog.

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All told, the proposed critical habitat is identified in 27 frog-occupied parcels, with 47 percent of the affected land owned by the federal government, while 49 percent of the total acreage is privately owned. Critical habitat is not a reserve, but activities involving federal funding or other action on the land require consultation with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

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