From: "Rich Peet" <>
> The MN Northern Cricket Frog is neither "accidental" or "occasional"
> to MN. It is a breeding species that needs state protection.
That is up to the state. It's a tiny portion of the entire distribution
of a breeding species. If you think it's a separate species, start by
getting the herp community to agree on that. Publish the necessary
scientific papers showing why.
> The waiting list has become a dead list for federal endangered species
> protection. State protection is the only protection that can be
> currently expected.
In this case, the Northern Cricket Frog is not as a species in any
danger. It's one of the more numerous frogs in North America. As such it
does not qualify for federal protection and it is inappropriate to blame
the federal system.
However if the state wishes to designate their fragment of the Northern
Cricket Frog for their own special protection, that's a separate issue,
entirely up to the state. It is, however, entirely a emotional issue.
> For the current situation on the Bush record for federal endangered
> species protection you can start here.
> http://www.nrdc.org/bushrecord/wildlife_species.asp
Again, this has no bearing on the MN Northern Cricket Frog population.
> The tools to protect an eco-system rather than a specific species are
> more important and more scary as we never have had a good evaluation
> and implementation technique for federal protection of areas. For that
> you have to look more broadly at what has occured in just the last 5
> years.
Indeed, the protection of a species without protection of it's habitat
and ecosystem is a joke.
Also the idea that a particular ecosystem would continue as is for all
time is a bit unrealistic. Change is the name of the game, with or
without the effects of the human species.
Walt
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