(Note: No matter how 'cooperative' this is made to sound, it is still collaborating with the enemy -- those that will use this agreement to steal more and more land and freedom from private property owners and ranchers. Watch and see! The tip-off words are 'protect,' 'save,' endangered,' 'threatened,' and so on. This is Hegelian Dialectic -- conned senses -- hard at work to paralyze your thinking processes and arouse your emotions.)

September 21, 2003

Associated Press

Reno, Nevada - The rare Columbia spotted frog will be protected in two rural Nevada counties under a deal reached by local, state and federal officials.

The Nevada Division of Wildlife, the lead agency in the effort, and six partners will meet Sept. 30 in Reno to sign conservation agreements to protect the frog in Elko and Nye counties.

Other parties are the Bureau of Land Management, Nevada Natural Heritage Program, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Service and Nye County.

Other participants in the agreements included Elko County commissioners, the Yomba Shoshone Tribe, and the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center.

Officials think the agreements will help save the frog and reduce the likelihood of its listing under the federal Endangered Species Act. The amphibian currently is a candidate species under the act.

Nye County Commissioner Roberta Carver called the conservation agreements an example of cooperation between local, state and federal levels of government.

"The conservation agreement is much more effective than listing the species under the Endangered Species Act," she said.

"It will be much more flexible, most assuredly will enjoy greater local support and it will have far fewer undesirable effects on local residents than a listing would," Carver added.

A listing of the frog as a threatened or endangered species could limit development and recreation in the counties.

The frog's habitat is seasonally dry and sensitive to both natural and human-caused disturbance. They live near slow-moving water at elevations ranging from 5,600 feet to 8,700 feet elevation.

Over the 10-year term of the agreement, partners agreed to assess populations and threats, maintain legal protections for the frog and implement efforts to save them.

"We are encouraged that the many years of work have paid off with two conservation agreements," said Rich Haskins, fisheries chief of the state wildlife division. "This really is a substantial achievement, considering the many different participants."

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2003/sep/21/092110738.html