SACRAMENTO, Calif.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed to designate 760,071 acres of critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act for the foothill yellow-legged frog. The areas to be protected lie throughout the Sierra Nevada and along the central and southern California coast.

Today’s proposal is the result of a Center for Biological Diversity petition and lawsuits. It will safeguard habitat essential to the conservation and recovery of four imperiled populations of foothill yellow-legged frogs in California — in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills, North Feather River, Central Coast and South Coast.

“This is good news for these little lemon-legged frogs, which will get protections for the most important rivers, creeks and adjacent areas where they live,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the Center. “Foothill yellow-legged frogs are integral to stream ecosystems along California’s coast and the Sierra foothills, and safeguarding their critical habitat will give them a chance to survive and recover.”

Critical habitat designation is a crucial tool under the Endangered Species Act. It requires federal agencies to ensure their actions do not destroy or damage areas essential for the survival of endangered species.

These frogs have disappeared from more than half of their historic California habitats because of dams and water diversions that alter stream hydrology, high-severity wildfires, flooding, logging, mining, livestock grazing, and sprawl development.

Critical habitat for the frog encompasses the most crucial areas with aquatic stream habitats, refugia areas in stream tributaries, upland terrestrial habitats, and dispersal corridors. Most of the proposed acreage is on federal lands, and for areas designated on private lands the critical habitat provisions will only affect activities funded or authorized by a federal agency.

The Service is proposing protections for 27 units of critical habitat: along the North Feather River (192,275 acres); South Sierra Nevada Mountains south of Placer County to Kern County (307,772 acres); Central California Coast Range from Contra Costa to western Fresno County (249,942 acres); and the South Coast from western Monterey County to northern Los Angeles County (10,077 acres).

The Service proposes exempting Fort Hunter Liggett military base in Monterey County because of conservation benefits from a 2023 base natural resources management plan and is considering excluding 57,910 acres in the Central Coast covered by a Santa Clara Valley Habitat Plan.

Background

Adult foothill yellow-legged frogs (Rana boylii) are from 1.5 to 3 inches long, with a distinctive lemon-yellow color under their legs. They live in partially shaded, rocky streams that flow year-round, and their life cycle is synchronized with the seasonal timing of streamflow conditions. These frogs need perennial water where they can forage through the summer and fall months.

These frogs were formerly found in many streams and rivers along the lower western slopes of the Sierra Nevada as well as in Pacific Coast drainages from the Oregon border to at least as far south as Los Angeles County. In addition to degradation of stream habitat, the frogs are also harmed by invasive species, climate change, disease, and pesticide use.

In 2012 the Center petitioned to protect the foothill yellow-legged frog under the federal Endangered Species Act and in 2016 for protection under the California Endangered Species Act.

The California Fish and Game Commission in 2019 listed the Southern Sierra, Central Coast and South Coast populations as endangered, and the Northern Sierra and Feather River populations as threatened.

In 2023 the Service protected frog populations in the Southern Sierra Nevada and South Coast as endangered, and populations in the North Feather River and Central Coast as threatened. Both federal and state wildlife authorities have determined that foothill yellow-legged frogs in California’s North Coast and Oregon do not currently warrant protection.