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Last Revised 04/25/99

KSNH SUPPORT KENTUCKY'S RARE FROG STUDY

In mid February I received a very interesting letter from past KSNH president Wilson Francis concerning the opportunity for KSNH to provide financial support for what he considered to be a worthy project. KSNH members, including Mark Gumbert, Brainard Palmer-Ball, Jeff Hohman, John MacGregor, James Kiser and others were working on a program to increase inventory and public awareness of Kentucky's anuran populations including rare frogs and toads. Included in this study were six very rare frogs, the barking tree frog Hyla qratiosa, the bird-voiced tree frog Hyla avivoca, the green tree frog Hyla cinerea, the gray tree frog Hyla versicolor, the northern leopard frog Rana pinions, and the crawfish frog Rana areolata.

In April the KSNH Board of Directors approved a grant in the amount of $500.00 to provide financial support for the publication of posters listing the native frogs and toads of Kentucky which will be distributed to individuals, schools and various organizations. KSNH is very proud to support this worthy project and wish those involved in the project continued success.

To help detect changes in amphibian populations in Kentucky, a program called "Frog Loggers" is being developed to monitor, not just the rare frogs, but all of Kentucky's anurans. The program will utilize volunteer support, trained to identify calls of all twenty frogs and toads of Kentucky. Each trained volunteer will be responsible for collecting data along a given route. After combining several years of data, declining frog populations possibly could be detected. The earlier a problem is detected, the greater the chance we have of solving it while the species can still recover.

If you are interested in participating in such a program, contact Mark Gumbert c/o The Nature Conservancy, 642 West Main Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508, telephone 606/259-9655.

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The new Kentucky Orchid Poster is now available from Frog Loggers

Additional Information on the project from Jeff Hohman

Indeed the response from our first natural history poster has been overwhelming. There is no order form so to speak.   We have distributed thousands to school children and teachers across the commonwealth. 

The audio tape of the frogs and toads of Kentucky is now available at a low cost of $5.00.
John MacGregor of the U.S. Forest Service is responsible for the audios used in this tape.

Now available is a poster on Orchids of Kentucky.  A number of agencies and environmental groups are responsible financial support of that project. It's just difficult for me to understand why it has taken so long to provide posters of the flora and fauna of our great state. Our plan is to do posters on bats, butterflies, birds of prey, slamanders etc. The series is planned to produce posters for ten years so hopefully we can cover a lot of ground during this span. If you need addtional information you can contact me at 800-238-3443 (361). Thanks for your support and your interest.

Visit the Frog Loggers Web Site for updated information.

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