3/1/2000 739

PETITION FILED TO PROTECT YOSEMITE TOAD UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT

On 2-29-00, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Pacific Rivers Council filed a formal petition with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to list the Yosemite toad as an endangered species. This action follows a 2-8-00 petition by both groups to list the Sierra Nevada population of the mountain yellow-legged frog as an endangered species. Both the Yosemite toad and the yellow-legged frog have declined precipitously because of habitat loss, pesticides and other pollutants, predation due to stocking of non-native fish, and environmental stresses which render amphibians susceptible to aquatic diseases. A recent survey found that the Yosemite toad has disappeared from 47% of historic locations throughout the high Sierra. Most remaining populations are small and greatly reduced in number from historical occurrence. The alarming decline of the Yosemite toad, the mountain yellow-legged frog, and other amphibians in the Sierra Nevada indicates that aquatic ecosystems have been significantly disrupted by human activity, even in supposedly protected areas such as National Parks.