Rare yellow-legged frogs are returned to drought-hammered San Gabriel Mountains by one of a kind conservation project
THE DIFFERENCE WET-nosed yellow-legged frog has no trouble moving on its six legs — the only set of legs it needs for its amphibious lifestyle. It has no trouble moving on its six legs — the only set of legs it needs for its amphibious lifestyle.
This is why we are so lucky to have the little guy on our side.
Somewhere between the Rio Grande and the San Gabriel Mountains, in a place dubbed the Wild Waterfront, is a stretch of sand dunes more than 150 feet higher than the surrounding terrain.
Facing the towering dunes is a desert that had once supported a vibrant ecosystem.
The landscape was left almost lifeless by drought — and what once was this lush paradise now lies dead.
A project to restore the San Gabriel Mountains to their former glory (and the environment around them) is making its way from the San Gabriel Valley into San Gabriel Valley National Recreation Area.
The project is The Nature Conservancy-San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area Desert to Desolation (TNC-SGMN). It was formed in 2007 to give a voice to its namesake — the San Gabriel Mountains, which at the time was an area of California’s deserts, high desert and coastal redwood forest.
‘A HARD ROAD’
The project’s leader is Bob Hart, an associate professor of biology at Cal Poly Pomona, and the man behind the project is Tim Sink, a research ecologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
In fact, the Nature Conservancy and UCSB have partnered together on the restoration project since it was conceived in 2007.
For example, Hart has partnered with the Nature Conservancy’s Natural Heritage Program to help restore the San Gabriel Mountains via the San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area Desert to Desolation program.
As part of that partnership, Sink has helped the Nature Conservancy and UCSB with the project along with a grant from the Nature Conservancy’s Nature’s Edge program.
Hart and Sink are also working together on the project’s goals and objectives.
Since its inception, the Nature Conservancy-SGMN project has provided more than 1,400 square feet of new habitat in the San Gabriel Mountains.
All told, the Nature Conservancy-SGMN