Twain's frog jumps to center of debate (AP/CNN) {threatened species}

[eppur_se_muova]

Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 3:01 p.m. EDT (19:01 GMT)

LIVERMORE, California (AP) -- The national debate over protecting fragile species comes to life here, where upscale housing developments push ever deeper into the rumpled blanket of grassy hills at the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay area

The threatened California red-legged frog breeds in the weedy creeks hidden in the hollows of this landscape, part of more than 4 million acres that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed in 2001 to designate as essential for the frog's recovery.

In mid-April, following years of litigation and debate, the agency announced the designation of just 450,000 acres of critical habitat -- 11 percent of the original proposal.

It did not include a pastoral section of Livermore proposed for a 650-home development, or any part of the county commemorated in Mark Twain's short story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," which introduced the red-legged frog to the world.

Federal officials said the final decision was based on research that allowed them to zoom in on frog-friendly areas, sparing private landowners hundreds of millions of dollars in lost development opportunities. But environmentalists are protesting what they see one more example of the nation's weakening will to protect endangered wildlife.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/05/01/twains.frog.ap/index.html

There's reference to a slimy tactic of critics, attacking the Endangered Species Act as "ineffective" because some of the species under protection went extinct anyway.:eyes: That's like saying we should drop laws against murder because murders are still occurring anyway.

PS: That frog is a handsome-looking devil, hope it gets more protecdtion.

[XemaSab]

1. It's equivalent to a "starve the beast" tax policy

Put half-assed endangered species protections in place, then when they don't accomplish anything, scrap them.

Yes, yes I am cynical. :(