However, the situation has been under study for some time. The overall effect is highly beneficial and the issue of declining amphibians is now a major conservation effort. Concern for western amphibians has occurred for decades with many of the early battles on protection of threatened and endangered species. One of the first was the listing of the Santa Cruz long-toed salamanders in central California. It was added to the Endangered Species list in the early 1970s.
Many similar efforts lead to listing and protecting other endemic species of amphibians.
Losses of species with widespread distributions became an issue in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. Still, agency biologists have been concerned and involved with amphibian issues for decades, and were among the first to push for action. Biologists in different regions of the West are in constant contact and exchange information on many issues. We now assess the relative importance of various groups working in the West. First, we want to clearly state that the situation changes fast and the evaluations are our own.