page_title: California red-legged frog
section_title: Conservation
hierarchical_section_title: California red-legged frog / Conservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Red legged frog
context_page_description: The California red-legged frog is a species of frog found in California and northern Baja California. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the northern red-legged frog. The frog is an IUCN vulnerable species, and a federally listed threatened species of the United States, and is protected by law.
context_section_description: This frog is listed as threatened and is protected by federal and California law. The main cause of the population decline is habitat loss and destruction, but introduced predatory species, such as American bullfrogs, might also be a factor.
  2006
  After years of litigation initiated by land developers' organizations, specifically the Home Builders Association of Northern California, and scientific back-and-forth, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced in April 2006 the designation of about 450,000 acres (1800 km²) of critical California habitat for the threatened frog. This protected habitat did not include any land in Calaveras County, the setting of Mark Twain's short story, "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", which features this species.
  2008
  On September 17, 2008, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to more than triple the habitat of the California red-legged frog, citing political manipulation by former Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald at the United States Department of the Interior. According to the Los Angeles Times, "development and destruction of wetlands have eliminated the frogs from more than 70% of their historic range. MacDonald would have reduced what was left of the frog's range by 82%." San Mateo County and Monterey County seem to have some of the largest healthy populations of these frogs, especially in coastal wetlands.
  2010
  In March 2010, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced 1,600,000 acres (6,500 km²) of protected land for the species throughout California, which has implications regarding development and use of such land. The largest population of the frog will be given protection on a 48-acre stretch of land in Placer County.
  2015
  A new law designates the California red-legged frog the “state amphibian.” Presently, it is subject to protection under both federal and state laws passed in 1996. Although the designation as official state amphibian does not provide legal protection to the frog as a threatened species, it does highlight the importance that California places on the frog's preservation.
caption: California red-legged frog in habitat
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