10,000 frogs released through multiagency conservation effort

The California red-legged frog, a federally threatened species absent from Yosemite National Park for decades, has made a significant comeback after 10 years of coordinated conservation work.

Partners marked the milestone today with the symbolic release of the program’s 10,000th frog in Yosemite Valley.

The recovery effort is led by the National Park Service in collaboration with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Yosemite Conservancy and San Francisco Zoo & Gardens.

“This milestone reflects years of focused work to restore a species that plays an important role in the park’s ecosystem,” said Rob Grasso, aquatic ecologist at Yosemite National Park. “After invasive bullfrogs eliminated red-legged frogs from the area decades ago, we removed those threats and created conditions for recovery. Today, multiple generations of frogs are established in Yosemite Valley.”

Invasive American bullfrogs, introduced to the park, drove the species’ decline. Elevated raccoon populations, fueled by open refuse sites that remained in use until the 1970s, also contributed to the loss. Park staff spent decades removing bullfrogs, while habitat improvements tied to the Merced River Plan restored wetlands, streambanks and river systems critical to the frog’s survival.

“Our partners have been essential to the recovery of the California red-legged frog,” said Kim Turner, acting field supervisor for the Sacramento Fish and Wildlife Office. “We appreciate the progress made over the past decade and remain committed to this collaborative effort.”

During the May 7 event, speakers will deliver remarks near Yosemite Falls before releasing several zoo-reared frogs, including the program’s symbolic 10,000th frog, nicknamed “Twain.”

“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is proud to have assisted the recovery of California’s official state amphibian in Yosemite,” said Laura Patterson, amphibian and reptile conservation coordinator for the Department. “Grants administered by the Department, using funds approved by the voters of California, facilitated the habitat restoration necessary for the success of this recovery effort.”

A key component of the effort is a dedicated rearing facility established in San Francisco in 2016 through a partnership between the National Park Service and the San Francisco Zoological Society. At the facility, staff raise frogs from wild-collected eggs to one- and two-year-old juveniles in a controlled environment before releasing them into the park.

The program is supported by the Zoo-Park Partnership Program, facilitated by the Wildlife Restoration Foundation, and is considered a model for species recovery in California.

“When the program began in 2016, no California red-legged frogs remained in Yosemite Valley,” said Dr. Rochelle Stiles, director of field conservation at the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens. “Today, every frog in the valley traces back to this effort. Despite drought, severe winters and flooding, the population has proven resilient.”

This year, the zoo plans to release about 830 juvenile frogs into Yosemite while raising approximately 600 eggs for future release.

“Protecting vulnerable species helps preserve the park’s natural balance,” said Cassius Cash, president of Yosemite Conservancy. “This milestone shows what sustained collaboration can achieve.”

The effort also relied on private landowner Diane Buchholz of Garden Valley, Calif., who allowed researchers to collect frog eggs from her property.

The California red-legged frog gained national recognition in The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain. The species, the largest native frog in the western United States, grows 2 to 5 inches long and is known for its reddish underside and soft, short calls. It inhabits ponds, streams and wet meadows.

About the National Park Service Established in 1916, the National Park Service preserves America’s most treasured natural and cultural places for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of current and future generations. Learn more at nps.gov.  

About the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, X, LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.

About the California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s mission is to protect California’s diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and enjoyment by the public today and for generations to come. For more information visit https://wildlife.ca.gov/ or follow CDFW on Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

About San Francisco Zoo & Gardens Established in 1929, San Francisco Zoo & Gardens connects people to wildlife, inspires caring for nature and advances conservation action. An urban oasis, SF Zoo is home to nearly 1,500 exotic, endangered and rescued animals representing about 150 species. Located at the edge of the Pacific Ocean at Sloat Boulevard, the Zoo is open 365 days a year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (4 p.m. in the winter). Visit www.sfzoo.org for more information.

About Yosemite Conservancy For more than 100 years, Yosemite Conservancy has supported the conservation of Yosemite’s natural and cultural resources and helped people develop a deeper relationship to the park. Thanks to generous donors, in recent years, the Conservancy has provided more than $180 million in grants to Yosemite for more than 950 projects. In 2026, we are providing $19 million in total support and funding around 60 new grants to the National Park Service for projects in the park. The Conservancy’s guided adventures and art classes, donor events, volunteer opportunities, wilderness services and bookstores help people from across the country and world connect with Yosemite. Learn more at yosemite.org.

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Media Contacts:
Yosemite National Park
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Krysten Kellum, CDFW Communications, (916) 825-7120
Nancy Chan, San Francisco Zoo & Gardens, (415) 840-6065
Peter Bartelme, Yosemite Conservancy

WASHINGTON — When the U.S. Supreme Court sharply curtailed a key provision of the Voting Rights Act last week, Democrats in Washington had a message: The rules of redistricting have changed, and California — the nation’s biggest blue bastion — may have a further role to play.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) said Democrats should “play by the same set of rules” as Republicans. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) vowed to fight in “the Deep South and all over the country.” And Rep. Terri Sewell, an Alabama Democrat, was blunt: “I’ll take 52 seats from California, I sure would. And 17 seats from Illinois.”

The calls for action came as Republican governors in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississipppi and Tennessee called special legislative sessions to redraw congressional maps ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Florida has also approved new maps that could give the GOP four more seats in the House, and President Trump urged other Republican states to follow suit.

The Republican response has intensified the pressure on Democrats to act, including those in California — where the ruling could upend not just congressional maps, but also legislative and local races.

“We can’t allow this national gerrymandering effort of Republicans to go unanswered,” said Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach). “If Republicans go for it, I think we have to leave all options on the table.”

For now, California’s response is far from settled.

The chair of the California Democratic Party said there are no current plans to redraw maps — just months after voters approved a constitutional amendment authorizing a mid-decade redistricting backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The Democratic consultant who drew the state’s current congressional district boundaries says an all-blue map, while possible to create, would probably hurt Democrats more than help them in the long run. And some of the state’s congressional Democrats are worried the impulse to match Republican partisan efforts would be bad for the American electorate.

“Rather than accelerating a race to the bottom, the next step is to dial it down because you can reach a point of no return,” said Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), one of the state’s most prominent Black lawmakers. “And that’s where we’re headed.”

What California decides — and when — will matter at the national level. With 52 congressional seats, no state has more to offer Democrats in a redistricting war. But experts, lawmakers and party officials say the path forward is more complicated than the calls from Washington suggest.

California could see 48 blue seats, out of 52

That’s in part because California already acted. In 2025, voters approved Proposition 50, which drew new congressional district lines designed to favor Democrats for the 2026, 2028 and 2030 elections. The new maps, which could yield as many as 48 Democratic seats out of 52, are already in effect, and voters have begun receiving their mail-in ballots.

Going farther is not currently on the table — at least not yet.

“We have yet to fully win the seats in the map that was drawn in 2025. It seems a step too far to say we’re going to go back to the drawing board and redraw the map,” said Rusty Hicks, the chair of the California Democratic Party.

Hicks said it doesn’t mean the issue could not become part of a future discussion, but he said Democrats in other states should not look past what California has already done.

“We’re trying to pick up 48 of them. How much more do you want us to pick up? You want us to make it 52 blue? Well, you all should get into the fight,” Hicks said. “You all should pick up some seats. Let’s all do this together, because California cannot do it alone, it will take the rest of the country.”

Others are not convinced the most aggressive option makes the strategic sense in California.

Paul Mitchell, the Democratic redistricting consultant who drew California’s Proposition 50 congressional maps, said the push for a 52-0 delegation reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how a partisan map would perform in the state over time.

“A 52-to-zero map would have the potential of backfiring,” Mitchell said. “In 2026, we could pick up 52 seats. But then in 2028 or 2030 — a bad year for Democrats, let’s say — Democrats lose 11 of those seats. You’ve drawn these districts so demonically to a Democratic advantage in a good year that in a bad Democratic year, they don’t have the ability to withstand the challenge.”

Ruling could jeopardize state’s voting rights law

The political debate over congressional maps has so far dominated the conversation in Washington. But legal scholars and redistricting experts say the ruling could also have consequences in California’s city hall, school board and county supervisor races.

The justices’ ruling, decided by the court’s conservative majority, says states cannot consider race to create majority-minority electoral districts while allowing them take partisan interests into account.

“A purely partisan map is actually more defensible now than one drawn with racial considerations,” said Rick Hasen, an election law professor at UCLA. “It turns the world on its head.”

The ruling now puts at risk any district drawn at any level of government that relied on the Voting Rights Act to justify its boundaries, Hasen said.

And in California, that uncertainty extends to districts drawn under the state Voting Rights Act, which extends protections for minority voters beyond the federal law, he said. The state law was not directly at issue in the Supreme Court ruling, but Hasen argues the court’s reasoning could provide new legal grounds to challenge the state law as potentially unconstitutional.

Cities including Santa Monica and Palmdale have faced lawsuits alleging their at-large City Council elections diluted the Latino vote. Palmdale settled its case and agreed to switch to district-based elections; Santa Monica’s case is ongoing. Hasen argued that the cities, as well as other bodies, such as school boards, could now return to court to challenge whether district maps drawn as a result of the California Voting Rights Act are unconstitutional.

“That has not been tested yet,” he said, but he fears the same arguments made to challenge the federal Voting Rights Act could be made against the state law.

At the state level, Republican strategist Matt Rexroad sees the ruling affecting the California Legislature as well. He argues the boundaries drawn for the state Assembly and Senate districts are racial gerrymanders.

“Those legislative lines, I would argue, are unconstitutional,” Rexroad said. “And those lines are probably going to change by 2028.”

But Rexroad’s biggest concern goes beyond any single set of maps: It is the future of California’s independent redistricting commission, the nonpartisan body he has spent years defending.

A threat to independent redistricting

Rexroad sees a scenario in which the national political environment gives California Democrats little incentive to return the map-making power to the commission. If Republican states continue to aggressively redraw maps, Democrats will have another justification to keep power in the Legislature’s hands, the same argument made to pass Proposition 50, he said.

“I don’t think the California redistricting commission has ever been in greater jeopardy than it is right now,” he said.

J. Morgan Kousser, a historian who has testified as an expert witness in voting rights cases for 47 years, said California’s commitment to the commission may depend on how aggressive Republican states act in redistricting.

“If we go back to an all-white South in Congress, California may not go back to a fairness standard,” Kousser said. “It may not disarm. It may rearm.”

Mitchell, the redistricting consultant, said that he hopes California and other states choose the path of disarmament and that there is a national push for independent commissions in every state.

“This isn’t good for anybody,” he said. “This was all basically a nerd war over lines that didn’t actually improve any districts anywhere.”

A lifestyle television network recently released a list on its website of the hottest suburbs in the city, with two in California