Environmentalists are sounding a familiar tune with a lawsuit that seeks Endangered Species Act protections for the Illinois chorus frog.
Citing the loss of Midwestern wetlands habitat, the Center for Biological Diversity is pressing the Trump administration to reconsider a 2023 decision not list the amphibian as threatened or endangered.
“Science shows that these chubby, burrowing frogs are losing habitat fast and that they warrant protection, so federal officials made a big mistake here,” Center for Biological Diversity senior attorney Lindsay Reeves said in a statement, adding that “the Fish and Wildlife Service needs to go back and do its homework about the threats these frogs face before their chorus fades forever.”
The Illinois chorus frog is a member of a “fat frog” family of North American frogs that inhabit sand prairie and sandy alluvial deposits in west-central Illinois, southeastern Missouri and northeastern Arkansas. The species requires both aquatic and terrestrial habitats for survival and reproduction, with the aquatic habitats typically consisting of ephemeral wetlands that retain water from mid-February through mid-June.
