SAVE THE FROGS!

To raise awareness of the plight of amphibians and to motivate people to take action, SAVE THE FROGS! Executive Director Dr. Kerry Kriger has given over 400 free educational presentations on amphibian conservation in 20+ countries, directly reaching over 12,000 participants. These lectures took place at universities, schools, businesses, community groups, national parks and at other nonprofits including the California Academy of Sciences, Monterey Bay Aquarium, UC Santa Cruz, UCLA, San Francisco State University, and Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve.

Keeping non-native bullfrogs out of California

Of particular concern to environmental conservation efforts in the western USA is the importation of several million American Bullfrogs each year, for use in the food, pet and dissection trades. Bullfrogs are native to eastern North America, but have established populations throughout the western USA, where they cause massive ecological damage due to their voracious appetites for native wildlife; their propensity to spread deadly diseases; and their role as competitors with native amphibians for limited food resources.

In April 2010, the California Department of Fish & Game became the first state in the country to stop issuing permits for the importation of non-native frogs and turtles for use as food. Unfortunately, a vocal minority of restaurant and supermarket owners successfully lobbied the Fish & Game Commission to hold a "re-consideration" of that ruling. On May 19th, SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger(http://www.savethefrogs.com/kerry-kriger/index.html) testified at the Commission's May 19th "reconsideration" hearing, highlighting the spread of infectious disease(http://www.savethefrogs.com/chytrid/index.html) and invasive species(http://www.savethefrogs.com/threats/invasive-species.html) that inevitably accompany the frog legs trade. Not only did the Commission vote 3-2 to maintain their original ruling, they also voted to research methods of enforcing the measure and ensuring invasive species do not slip into the state via potential loopholes. This victory would not have been possible without the 1,196 letters sent to the Department of Fish & Game by SAVE THE FROGS supporters – ours comprised over half of the 2,043 comments received by the Department! We are also working with state and local politicians to get the importation of bullfrogs into California legally banned. You can read our proposal to California State Senator Joe Simitian here(http://www.savethefrogs.com/actions/bullfrogs/Bullfrog-Legal-Summary-Kriger.pdf) .