Protecting the Red Legged Frog's Critical Habitat

Earthjustice sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after a 2006 rule diminished the critical habitat of the California red legged frog due to political and industry pressure. The lawsuit was settled in September 2008 when the FWS proposed a rule to significantly increase the species' critical habitat.

• In the spring of 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issued a rule that significantly reduced the critical habitat of the endangered California red legged frog, which Earthjustice alleged was the result of industry and developer pressure.
• Earthjustice used Freedom of Information Act requests to find that political pressure from D.C. office officials, specifically former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald, improperly influenced the final critical habitat rule. This led field office scientists to disregard the frog's Recovery Plan and exclude areas previously identified as essential for the species' conservation, resulting in a rule not based on the best available science.
• The lawsuit brought by Earthjustice was settled after the FWS published a proposed rule in September 2008 that would significantly expand the critical habitat for the red-legged frog.

APA

Earthjustice (2007). Protecting the Red Legged Frog's Critical Habitat. https://earthjustice.org/case/red-legged-frog-critical-habitat

Chicago

Earthjustice. Protecting the Red Legged Frog's Critical Habitat. 2007. https://earthjustice.org/case/red-legged-frog-critical-habitat.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Earthjustice |title=Protecting the Red Legged Frog's Critical Habitat |date=28 December 2007 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/red-legged-frog-critical-habitat |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{earthjustice2007protecting, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Protecting the Red Legged Frog's Critical Habitat}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2007}, month = dec, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/red-legged-frog-critical-habitat}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }