`CELEBRATED' FROG NOW THREATENED.Byline: Ann Bancroft For the actress, see . Ann Bancroft (born 29 September 1955 in Mendota Heights, Minnesota) is a United States author, teacher, and adventurer. She was the first woman to successfully finish a number of arduous expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. The California red-legged frog The California Red-legged frog (Rana aurora ) is a sub-species of frog within the family Ranidae also known as the "true frogs". It was earlier classified as a subspecies, Rana aurora draytonii , made famous by Mark Twain in the ``Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County'' was listed Monday as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The listing was the first in the nation under the federal Endangered Species Act The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. since the Clinton Administration Noun 1. Clinton administration - the executive under President Clinton executive - persons who administer the law last month lifted a 13-month Congress-imposed moratorium on new endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. listing. It was announced a day after the annual Calaveras County Fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee in the Gold Country town of Angels Camp, which celebrates Twain's 1865 story. Environmentalists sued the Department of the Interior in May 1995, seeking to require the federal agency to make a final listing on the frog despite the moratorium. The service was required by a federal court order to make a decision on listing the frog by Monday. The listing was given tepid praise by environmentalists, who said they were relieved at the lifting of the moratorium but disheartened dis·heart·en tr.v. dis·heart·ened, dis·heart·en·ing, dis·heart·ens To shake or destroy the courage or resolution of; dispirit. See Synonyms at discourage. at the backlog of work and scarcity of funds facing the federal endangered species program. California's farmers, who generally loathe the Environmental Species Act and have pressured Congress to dump or overhaul it, had harsh criticism for the frog's listing. ``This listing is another nail in the coffin of California farmers' property rights and symptomatic of an act gone wrong,'' said California Farm Bureau Federation President Bob L. Vice. ``Federal protection for the frogs will mean greater problems for farmers and ranchers in their ability to graze livestock, clear brush, clean drainage ditches and even to cultivate their land.'' U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region One Director Michael Spear downplayed the listing's effect on farmers and developers at a Sacramento news conference where the listing was announced. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO The California red-legged frog has been given threate ned status. Associated Press |
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