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Restoring Leopard Frogs & Habitat in the Sky Island Grasslands'
Cienega Watershed
Decline and loss of native aquatic species represents one of the North American continent's
most severe biodiversity
crises. Threats are especially marked in the American Southwest, where most fishes are
recognized as TE&S, as are
increasing numbers of amphibian and aquatic reptile species. Among the most severely
affected ecosystems are the
lowland cienegas (which are Southwestern headwater-springs wetlands) and cienega-streams
of the grasslands of
southeastern Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, which formerly supported core populations
of the threatened
Chiricahua leopard frog, endangered Gila topminnow and Gila chub, and the federally
petitioned Mexican garter snake.
Habitat modification along with proliferation of exotic species in both natural and modified
habitat underlie the severity of
threats to this ecological community.
Outcomes
This project is part of a comprehensive, long-term effort in Southeastern Arizona’s Cienega
Watershed (Empire-Sonoita
valley) to protect existing Chiricahua leopard frog (CL frog) and other species from exotic
species, and to provide new
and restored habitat for these natives in springs and ponds on public and private lands
across the Watershed. The project
has 3 long-term outcomes, each with specific objectives.
Outcome 1. New leopard frog breeding populations as part of an intact metapopulation.
a) Provide expansion and metapopulation habitats for Chiricahua leopard frogs in livestock
tanks, wildlife waters,
and ornamental water features throughout the watershed.
b) Improve population viability for imperiled predator species that depend largely (e.g.,
Mexican Garter Snake) or
partly (e.g., Gila Chub) upon native leopard frogs and tadpoles as prey base.
CL frog population numbers have been reduced to a fraction of historic levels. Recovery of
this federally threatened
species will depend on re-establishment of frogs in both isolated and connected habitats in a
number of watersheds across
the Sky Islands region. Isolated CL frog populations have persisted here despite widespread
declines. This project will
reintroduce CL frogs to existing suitable waters in one key watershed, and will create new
opportunities for existing and
re-established populations to expand through time. We have already identified several existing
waters (stock tanks, natural
springs, and backyard ponds) that appear to be suitable habitats for these frogs with little or
no modification, and others
where management or structures could be adapted to support native frogs. With coordinated
management of livestock and
wildlife water sources on BLM, County, and private lands, suitable habitats could be abundant
enough in this valley to
support frog migration between populations. This “metapopulation function” is key to long term
survival of species like
CL frogs. Of landscapes with remnant CL frog populations, this is one of the most likely to
support such metapopulations.
Outcome 2. Elimination of exotic aquatics in and around public lands.
a) Protect federally imperiled species in Cienega Creek (Chiricahua leopard frog, Gila
topminnow, Gila chub,
Huachuca water umbel, and Mexican garter snake) from decimation by exotic fish,
bullfrogs and crayfish through
population control efforts and habitat renovations where needed.
b) Maintain benefits that water sources bring to livestock operators, riparian and aquatic
wildlife, and landowners,
and recreationists while decreasing the exotic species hosting and contamination risks.
c) Demonstrate feasibility of exotics control and native aquatic species recovery in a previously
intractable but
critically important regional environment - the valley-floor cienega-stream-riparian complex.
As recognized in the NFWF Sky Island Grasslands Initiative’s business plan, exotic species
pose the greatest obstacle to
CL frog survival and recovery. Unless this threat is reduced, habitats where natives could
make a comeback will instead
act as contamination vectors for exotics. This valley’s large expanses of open space, multiagency collaboration and broad
community support for combating exotics dramatically increases the chances for successfully
controlling bullfrogs,
crayfish, and exotic fish.
Outcome 3. Active community support for native frog recovery and long-term monitoring.
a) Boost public involvement in preventing new or renewed introductions of non-native aquatic
species into the
watershed by conducting outreach, involving local citizens in project work, and stewardship
by fostering
landowner interest in hosting habitats for native frogs and, potentially, native fishes.
b) Refine measurement protocols, train individuals, and share a common information pool with
partners (agencies,
organizations, community residents) to evaluate changes in habitat quantity and quality,
and to track trends in
target species’ distribution and abundance.
c) Provide outreach to transfer methods and concepts to other groups and agencies involved
in conservation,
restoration, and management of other lowland aquatic ecosystems in the American
Southwest.
Community support for and participation in aquatic ecosystem conservation and management
will be critical for long-term
success in achieving outcomes 1 and 2. Community involvement is one of this project’s
strong points. Project leaders
have a long history of working with local residents and developing positive relationships
between residents and federal
agencies, state departments and NGO partners. The local community includes many private
landowners with history of
active support for local conservation initiatives, as evidenced by broad public support for Pima
County’s Sonoran Desert
Conservation Plan; welcome reception for the National Audubon Society's Appleton-Whittall
Research Ranch’s Rural
Living in Santa Cruz County AZ: A guide to resources and regulations for country living; and
Cienega Watershed
Partnership's (CWP) successful involvement with community. For the public, frogs provide a
clear illustration of a
connected landscape; they demonstrate how the actions of individual land owners have an
impact on the whole landscape.
Threats and Opportunities
The threat of contamination by exotics from surrounding lands continues to increase due to
increased human populations
in the region, along with the passage of time during which exotics spread gradually. Surveys
of several nearby ponds have
already turned up bullfrogs, crayfish and exotic fish—and most waters in the Watershed have
not been surveyed in a
decade, in some cases not ever. The number of perennial waters in the Watershed is
increasing rapidly as landowners
install more stock ponds, and ornamental or wildlife waters.
The large number of surface waters is a double-edged sword.
many sites that could provide
expansion habitat for Chiricahua leopard frogs, Gila topminnow,
Gila chub and the Mexican
garter snake—but only if the threat of contamination by exotics
eliminated. Any
contamination in the head of the watershed has great potential
Cienega Creek where control
efforts could prove impossible. Control of exotic aquatic species
to the West (Santa Cruz
River) and to the East (San Pedro River) have so far failed
complexity of these habitats and the
number of sources for recontamination.
This relatively wet area has
and a few that could support
can be reduced, controlled, or
to find its way down hill to
in comparable river systems
because of the size and
Several features of the Cienega Watershed combine to create a unique opportunity for a
project like this to succeed: This
basin currently supports the only remaining native Chiricahua leopard frog populations in a
lowland cienega setting - the
former key/core habitat for the species in the region. It also supports the best remaining
native population of Gila
topminnow in the nation, one of the most secure populations of Gila chub (all federally
listed), and one of few remaining
populations of the federally petitioned Mexican garter snake in the nation.
So far, this creek and its tributaries
crayfish that have decimated native
aquatic wildlife throughout the West.
multi agency reactionary
management on limited budgets has
where exotics elimination could
prove impossible. Similarly, bullfrogs
valley has no intractable
sources of perpetual contamination.
have escaped the contamination by exotic fish and
Some locally potential sources have been identified and
thus far forestalled contamination of Cienega Creek,
have been held to low numbers. Thus, at present, the
Existing plans and collaborations also provide a suite of opportunities to establish new CL frog
populations, combat
exotics, and involve the local community. Public land and wildlife managers here-- Bureau of
Land Management (BLM),
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZG&F), U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS),
and Pima County--are actively promoting frog and fish recovery under various directives. The
federal USFWS Chiricahua
Leopard Frog Recovery Plan provides guidance on appropriate genetic stocks for new
populations, sets forth recovery
targets for isolated populations and metapopulations for each recovery unit (i.e., complex of
adjacent valleys and
mountains). This project area forms a core part of the Recovery Plan’s Recovery Unit 2.
BLM’s Resource Management
Plan (RMP) for the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area has set up a strategy for
periodically drying up livestock
waters to interrupt breading and spread of exotics. Federal Safe Harbor Agreements for
Chiricahua leopard frog and
topminnow help landowners embrace stewardship of endangered species.
Pima County’s Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan (SDCP) adds yet another set of
opportunities. Pima County has adopted
a mandate under the SDCP to protect habitat for, and promote recovery of, CL frogs and
several other threatened,
endangered, and sensitive (TE&S) species. The County manages large tracts of land in this
project area for the benefit of
native species, including the Cienega Creek Natural Preserve as well as several recently
acquired ranches. County
holdings protect open grassland habitats as well as their shallow groundwater and cienega
habitats that CL frogs and many
other species depend upon. Pima County staff have committed to helping with project activities
on County properties,
including assisting with survey and monitoring work, removing invasives where they turn up,
strategically managing
livestock waters to support natives where possible and to interrupt breeding and movement of
exotics where necessary. In
return, this project will help the County meet their SDCP endangered species recovery targets
across the landscape.
Activities
The project’s primary activities can be summarized according to both the outcome they target
and the lands (public,
private) on which they will take place.
Eliminate exotic populations/make habitat inhospitable to exotics spread
-on public lands (County, BLM, State): survey for and monitor status of bullfrogs in
Cienega Creek and exotic fishes and
crayfish in tanks in surrounding Forest Lands.
-on private land: listen for bullfrog breeding chorus, also locate potential waters using aerial
imagery; document and
distribute information to GO’s and NGO’s working in the area.
-on both: develop location-specific plan for exotic species elimination, control, or containment
(e.g. periodically drying
clusters of livestock waters); elaborate this plan with private and agency personnel to be
involved; involve volunteers and
assist in carrying out these renovation operations; mentor volunteers in monitoring outcome of
renovations.
Create opportunities for new populations
-on public lands: re-establish leopard frogs and native fishes in formerly occupied or newly
constructed wetlands in
Cienega Creek; monitor and re-establish leopard frogs in suitable or renovated stock ponds
-on private land: initiate public outreach and individual communication involving native aquatic
species; develop
agreements (e.g., Safe Harbors) with landowners and neighbors;
-on both: design location-specific facilities or renovations and initiate actions that are useful
and agreeable (deepening
tanks, enhancing perennial water source such as wells); establish leopard frogs and native
fishes in renovated or newly
constructed habitat; mentor private owners, volunteers, and agency personnel in monitoring
native species in new or
renovated environments.
Project Team
Ms. Netzin Steklis is the coordinator for the Cienega Watershed Partnership. As a 12-year
resident of Sonoita who has been
active in 4H, “Wild about the Grasslands” ecology and ranching heritage summer camp, and
other community programs,
Netzin has strong relationships throughout the project area. Her ecology masters degree from
Princeton and 20 years of
work in Africa add to her qualifications for orchestrating effective community-based conservation
efforts.
Dr. Phil Rosen has worked actively in research, monitoring, and the design and implementation
of control methods for
exotic and restoration of native aquatic species in the Southwest for 25 years, including
intensive research and monitoring
at LCNCA. He has worked closely with involved agencies, especially BLM, Pima County,
TNC, and USFWS. His
experience in public-private conservation partnerships include work with the Malpai Group, Altar
Valley Conservation
Alliance, and Tucson neighborhoods, schools and residences.
Mr. Jeff Simms is the Bureau of Land Management’s regional fish biologist, and has extensive
academic training and
field experience aquatic amphibians and reptiles. With 20 years of work on endangered
aquatic species in the Cienega
watershed, he is the most experienced and knowledgeable observer of aquatic fauna in valley.
Jeff has worked extensively
with ranchers and agency managers and biologists in the Cienega Creek region as well as
elsewhere in the region, and
provides a direct outreach nexus to agencies, biologists, and managers in adjoining regions
where lessons from this project
may later be applied.
Mr. Dennis Caldwell has conducted research and management on aquatic species in the
Cienega Creek region for over 15
years. He has contracted for the BLM for 6 years for the removal of nonnative aquatic
species from the LCNCA and has
been actively removing bullfrogs and working on a crayfish eradication effort near the
headwaters of Cienega Creek.
Dennis has worked closely with ranchers in the watershed to gain trust and engage them in
conservation management. He
manages a multi-agency backyard frog refugia project in neighborhoods buffering Saguaro
National Park near Tucson.
Dennis is also a professional graphic designer with 26 years experience communicating
conservation issues to the public
through printed materials and interpretive signs.
Ms. Kerry Baldwin is the Natural Resources Division Manager for Pima
Resources Parks and Recreation
department. Kerry is in charge of County open space programs, which
County properties covering over
350,000 acres that form the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan’s core
Before coming to Pima County
five years ago, Kerry spent 29 years in natural resource management
Department of Game and Fish.
County’s Natural
include the 100
protected land base.
with the Arizona
Mr. Brian Powell is the Program Manager for the Pima County Office of Conservation Science
and Environmental Policy. As
the lead developer of the effectiveness monitoring program for the County’s Sonoran Desert
Conservation Plan Multi
Species Conservation Plan, Brian directs the County in identifying benchmarks of success and
measuring progress
towards their ambitious conservation goals for particular target species and their habitats. Brian
also helps the County
partner with surrounding landowners to promote species and habitat conservation across the
landscape and track these
actions’ effects at large scales.
Dr. Gita Bodner has worked on conservation in the Sky Island region for 15 years, with a
variety of non-profits and
agency partners. She currently co-leads the science program for The Nature Conservancy in
Arizona, focusing on helping
managers make better use of science and monitoring in natural resource management. She
serves as an advisor and partner
liaison for this project.
June 2009