Recovery plan for the Chiricahua Leopard Frog

About the Document

Title:  Chiricahua Leopard Frog (Rana chiricahuensis) Recovery Plan

Purpose: The plan will provide a roadmap for recovery and ultimately removal of the Chiricahua leopard frog from the threatened species list, in accordance with section 4(f)(1) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The plan contains descriptions of the life history, threats, and current conservation of the frog, as well as objective and measurable recovery criteria, recommended recovery actions, and time and cost estimates of recovery.

Estimated Dissemination Date:  The Chiricahua Leopard Frog Recovery Plan will be disseminated by September 30, 2006.  

About the Peer Review Process

Type of Peer Review and Number of Reviewers:  The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service solicited comments from four independent scientific reviewers on the draft recovery plan.  The scientific peer review was held concurrently with the public review of the draft recovery plan (April 12 – June 12, 2006).

Reviewer Selection Method/Expertise of Reviewers:  The Service asked the Technical Subgroup of the Recovery Team to recommend peer reviewers that were objective and, preferably well known and widely respected experts in conservation biology, anuran conservation, anuran ecology, knowledge of recovery planning, hydrology, amphibian diseases, and native/non-native aquatic organism interactions. The Service then asked a subset of those recommended reviewers if they were available to review the draft recovery plan within the given time frame. If any were not available, the agency planned to return to the recommended list from the Recovery Team; however, the first four individuals asked accepted.  We also asked a recovery team member from Canada’s Northern Leopard Frog Recovery Team; however, that person was unavailable.

Estimated Start Date of Peer Review:  April 12, 2006

About Public Participation

The public had an opportunity to provide comments on the Draft Chiricahua Leopard Frog Recovery Plan from April 12 – June 12, 2006 (71 FR 18767).  Peer reviewers were nominated as described above in Reviewer Selection Method.

Contact: Arizona Ecological Services Field Office, at 602-242-0210

See the Chiricahua leopard frog species’ profile via the Service’s Endangered Species website, at: http://ecos.fws.gov/species_profile/servlet/gov.doi.species_profile.servlets.SpeciesProfile?spcode=D02F

A copy of the final recovery plan will be posted on this site upon completion.

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