Frank Santana, a research technician with the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research, prepares to make the first-ever release of endangered mountain yellow-legged frog tadpoles into a mountain stream. They are among 36 of the Southern California population of mountain yellow-legged frogs reintroduced into a stream near Idyllwild, Calif., Tuesday. There are believed to be less than 200 of the frogs living in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino and San Jacinto mountains. Photo: CourtesyThe restoration of the Hill’s mountain yellow-legged frog population is continuing although no new releases of eggs are planned for 2012, according to Adam R. Backlin, ecologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center in Irvine.
“It looks like our captive breeding program this year did not produce as many new frogs as we had hoped. So we will not be releasing any frogs in 2012,” Backlin wrote in an email last week. “Instead we will be head starting the 200 to 300 new frogs to an older life stage in captivity and releasing them in 2013 as juvenile frogs.”
The team continues to monitor frog releases from 2011 and did detect tadpoles in the creek as recently as February 2012, he added.
They are hoping some of tadpoles released in 2011 will have survived this winter and metamorphose into frogs this summer.
U.S. Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz’s widlfire funding bill passed the House of Representatives (251-169) before the holiday recess. Ruiz’s bill, which would change the way Congress funds the expenses to fight wildfires, was part of the $81 billion disaster-aid bill. This includes funds for victims of recent fires in both Northern and Southern California, as…
Of the two Hill crashes that occurred last week, one involved a California Highway Patrol officer. At 8:15 a.m. Thursday, July 6, California Highway Patrol Officer Graham Aanestad, 32, was driving his black 2011 Ford Expedition eastbound on Highway 74, 3.3 miles west of McCall Park Road. Behind him in a white 2014 Toyota Forerunner…
In November, former Riverside County Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo lost his bid for reelection to Ben Benoit. On April 24, Angulo filed a $1.480 million claim against the county as a result of its certification of Benoit winning the election. Angulo argues that the state requires a county auditor-controller to have “… certain experience and formal…
A visitor to the U.S. Forest Service’s Humber Park was injured sledding on the snow Saturday, Jan. 28. The incident was reported at 1:47 p.m. Initially, emergency responders had difficulty locating the injured person. Once found, they requested Cal Fire’s helicopter to remove the victim rather than try to carry the person out in the…
The board of the Idyllwild Community Recreation Council reviewed challenges it is facing and noted some bright spots at its Monday, Dec. 12 meeting. The successes include a likely grant to help staff and run the Idyllwild Skate Park (ISP) and increased attendance at the park. New board member Cheryl Vladika submitted a $15,000 grant…
In the second consecutive election, voters rejected the incumbent Idyllwild Fire commissioners and chose challengers to manage the district. Voters also told the commission to find another way to improve its finances before raising taxes. Measure G was soundly trounced. Newcomer Jerry Buchanan and long-time resident, Larry Donahoo easily won the commission seats up for…
