USA -(Ammoland.com)- The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is seeking information relevant to a proposal to list the Cascades Frog as an endangered or threatened species.
The Cascades Frog (Rana cascadae) inhabits a variety of habitats such as large lakes, ponds, wet meadows and streams at mid- to high-elevations range from the Klamath-Trinity region, along the Cascades Range axis in the vicinity of Mt. Shasta, southward to the headwater tributaries of the Feather River.
In March 2017, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission to formally list the Cascades Frog as endangered or threatened under the California Endangered Species Act. The listing petition and CDFW’s petition evaluation described a variety of threats to the survival of Cascades Frogs in California.
These include direct and indirect impacts associated with airborne contaminants, climate change, disease, fire suppression, habitat loss and alteration, introduced fish, livestock grazing, recreational activities, small population sizes and Cannabis cultivation. CDFW recommended, and the Commission voted, to advance the species to candidacy on Oct. 11, 2017.
The Commission published findings of this decision on Oct. 27, 2017, triggering a 12-month period during which CDFW will conduct a status review to inform the Commission’s decision on whether to list the species.
As part of the status review process, CDFW is soliciting information from the public regarding the Cascades Frog’s ecology, genetics, life history, distribution, abundance, habitat, the degree and immediacy of threats to reproduction or survival, adequacy of existing management and recommendations for management of the species. Comments, data and other information can be submitted in writing to:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Attn: Laura Patterson
1812 Ninth Street
Sacramento, CA 95811
Comments may also be submitted by email to wildlifemgt@wildlife.ca.gov. If submitting comments by email, please include “Cascades Frog” in the subject heading.
All comments received by Dec. 22, 2017 will be evaluated prior to submittal of the CDFW report to the Commission. Receipt of the report will be placed on the agenda for the next available meeting of the Commission after delivery and the report will be made available to the public at that time. Following the receipt of the CDFW report, the Commission will allow a 30-day public comment period prior to taking any action on CDFW’s recommendation.
CBD’s listing petition and CDFW’s petition evaluation for the Cascades Frog are available on their website.
Listing of Species Under the California Endangered Species Act
The criteria and process for listing species as candidate, threatened or endangered are outlined in the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) (Fish and Game Code Sections 2050, et seq.) and Section 670.1, Title 14, California Code of Regulations (CCR).
The following represents a basic minimum timeline from receipt of a petition to the effective date of the listing/uplisting/downlisting/delisting of the species as threatened or endangered.
- Day 1: The petition to list, uplist, downlist or delist a species is received in the Commission office, and is reviewed by Commission staff for proper format and for the presence or absence of the required information.
- Day 10: An incomplete petition will be returned to the petitioner within 10 days. An accepted petition will be referred to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) within 10 days and a notice of receipt of the accepted petition will be published in the California Regulatory Notice Register (Notice Register) and mailed to interested and affected parties.
- Day 100: The Department will evaluate the petition according to the criteria listed subsection 670.1(d)(1), Title 14, CCR, and will provide its evaluation report to the Commission within 90 days of receiving the petition from Commission staff; however, the Department may request a 30-day extension.
- Day 130: The Commission will take action on the petition at its next available meeting after the Department’s evaluation report has been available to the public for 30 days. At the meeting, the Commission will make a finding on whether or not the petition contains sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted. If the Commission finds there is sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the Commission will designate the species as a candidate species (Section 2068, Fish and Game Code).
- Day 146: A notice of the Commission’s findings will be published in the Notice Register and mailed to interested and affected parties. If the Commission finds there is not sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the process ends. If the Commission finds there is sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, the process continues.
- Day 511: Within 12 months of the date of publication of the “candidacy” notice, the Department will prepare and submit a Status Report to the Commission.
- Day 541: The Commission will receive the Department’s Status Report at a regularly scheduled Commission meeting.
- Day 601: Final consideration of the petition will be scheduled for the next regularly scheduled Commission meeting after official receipt of the Status Report. At this meeting, the Commission will make a finding of whether or not the petitioned action is warranted. Ratification of the findings will be scheduled for a future meeting. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is not warranted, the process ends and the species will be removed from the list of candidate species. If the Commission finds that the petitioned action is warranted, a rulemaking process to add the species to the list of threatened and endangered species in Section 670.2 (plants) or Section 670.5 (animals) will begin.
- Day 617: Notice of Findings and, if applicable, Notice of Proposed Changes in Regulations published in the Notice Register and mailed to interested and affected parties.
- Day 664: Adoption of regulations.
- Day 674: Regulations filed with the Office of Administrative Law.
- Day 719: Regulations filed with Secretary of State.
- Day 739: Effective date of Regulation.