Re-Frogging America: Building Wetlands
An Environmental Article from All-Creatures.org

From

Save the FROGS!
October 2014

Constructing wetlands is a fantastic way to ensure that amphibians have a home in which to live and breed. At these workshops we will teach you how to build wetlands and together we will build an actual wetland. We will train you in the art of wetlands creation so that you can incorporate this valuable habitat creation mechanism into your ecological toolbox. The knowledge you gain at this workshop will set you on the path to constructing wetlands for wildlife in your part of the world.

Last week I spent five amazing days in California's Eldorado National Forest building wetlands for our official state amphibian, the endangered California Red-Legged Frog! I was joined by members of the US Forest Service, US Fish & Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Trout Unlimited, Center for Wetland & Stream Restoration, and SAVE THE FROGS! biologists Kathlyn Franco and Emily Moskal. Together we built six wetlands for California Red-Legged Frogs and took part in a Wetlands Construction Workshop led by Tom Biebighauser, who has built over 1,700 wetlands across North America over the last thirty years. This week we plan to build three more wetlands, and I hope you can join us or donate to make our efforts possible.

 frogs wetlands

SAVE THE FROGS! invites you to attend our Wetlands Construction Workshops this week!
-- October 13th, 2014 in Ben Lomond, CA (Santa Cruz County)
-- October 14th, 2014 in Shingle Springs, CA (east of Sacramento)
-- October 15th, 2014 at the SAVE THE FROGS! Education Center in Berkeley and frog ponds in San Francisco .
-- October 16th, 2014 in Fairfax, CA (Marin County)

Constructing wetlands is a fantastic way to ensure that amphibians have a home in which to live and breed. At these workshops we will teach you how to build wetlands and together we will build an actual wetland. We will train you in the art of wetlands creation so that you can incorporate this valuable habitat creation mechanism into your ecological toolbox. The knowledge you gain at this workshop will set you on the path to constructing wetlands for wildlife in your part of the world. We welcome students, environmental educators, ecological consultants, wildlife managers, and private landowners. The workshops will be led by Tom Biebighauser, the world's premiere wetlands construction expert and SAVE THE FROGS! Founder Dr. Kerry Kriger. We hope you can join us as we Re-Frog America! If you are a student and you require financial assistance in order to attend please contact us as we have a limited number of scholarships available.

frogs wetlands
Learn more and register at: www.savethefrogs.com/workshops

frogs wetlands
The wetlands we built last week in Eldorado National Forest

We built the 60' x 40' wetland shown below, as well as five others in the vicinity. When the rains come, they will fill with water and serve as habitat for an array of wildlife in an arid landscape. California Red-Legged Frogs were once common in this area, but the gold miners nearly ate them to extinction in the late 1800's. The wetlands are designed to last and require no maintenance. The pond shown below is nearly three feet deep and will hold water for most of the year. We designed it to dry out each year so that it will not be colonized by fish or non-native American Bullfrogs, both of which require permanent water to survive. Wetlands can be built to retain surface water either by compacting clay soil or by using a plastic liner; they could also be dug to fill with groundwater if the water table is close enough to the surface. The pond shown below uses a wildlife-friendly plastic liner as there was no clay and no groundwater at the site. Unlike most liners sold in stores, our liners were not coated with fungicides or other harmful chemicals.

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