Nevada
Endangered Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frogs Are Making a Comeback
/https%3A%2F%2Ftf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Ffiler_public%2F41%2F93%2F4193f623-6009-4c63-a17d-c5f384754adc%2Frasiadult_70158-20.jpg?ssl=1 "Endangered Sierra Nevada Yellow-Legged Frogs Are Making a Comeback")
Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are rebounding from near-extinction in California.
University of California Santa Barbara
After nearly disappearing for good, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are once again hopping happily around California’s alpine lakes.
Scientists are celebrating the comeback of the amphibians (Rana sierrae) in Yosemite National Park. Though they’re still endangered, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs have made a “remarkably successful” recovery from the deadly amphibian chytrid fungus, researchers report this month in the journal Nature Communications.
“The lakes are alive again, completely transformed,” says study co-author Roland Knapp, a biologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to USA Today’s Elizabeth Weise. “You literally can look down the shoreline and see 50 frogs on one side and 50 on the other and in the water you see 100 to 1,000 tadpoles. It’s a completely different lake.”
Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs are small creatures measuring 1.5 to 3.75 inches long, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They live high in California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, at elevations between 4,500 and 12,000 feet above sea level. The frogs inhabit marshes, ponds, lakes and streams, where they feast on bugs and other amphibians. They also serve as a source of food for birds, snakes, coyotes and bears.
Dozens of frogs are now visible along the shores of some alpine lakes in the Eastern Sierra.
Roland Knapp
Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs tend to have yellowish-orange bellies and dark, splotchy backs, but their coloring can vary widely—from greenish-brown to gray to red. They don’t have vocal sacks, so instead the frogs grind their teeth together underwater when trying to attract mates in the spring.
The frogs were once abundant throughout the Sierra Nevada. But, after the arrival of European settlers in the mid-19th century during the California gold rush, their numbers began to dwindle.
In addition to gold, miners also discovered more than 1,500 alpine lakes in California. The lakes were beautiful, but they were lacking in fish—so the miners began stocking them. The introduction of non-native species—including rainbow trout, grayling and Atlantic salmon—decimated the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs.
Stocking ended in the 1990s, but even without help from humans, the non-native fish continued to reproduce and thrive. Then, in the early 2000s, the few surviving frogs in the Sierra Nevada faced yet another threat: the amphibian chytrid fungus.
The highly contagious fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) causes chytridiomycosis, an infectious skin disease that has caused mass die-offs and extinctions among amphibians around the world. In 2014, with their populations crashing, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs were added to the endangered species list.
But then scientists noticed something peculiar: In some places, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog numbers were increasing. It appeared that at least some of the small creatures—particularly those living in lakes without any non-native fish—had developed a resistance to the fungus.
Scientists carefully transported frogs that appeared to be resistant to the fungus to other lakes.
Roland Knapp
“The frogs that survive better have certain variations in their genomes,” says Erica Bree Rosenblum, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley, to ScienceNews’ Martin J. Kernan. “Since they’re the ones surviving, they’re passing their genes down, and over time the whole population is changing toward having these more favorable genetic mutations.”
Researchers decided to implement an ambitious plan to save the species. Starting in 2006, they began gathering up the fungus-resistant survivors and re-introducing them to other alpine lakes without fish.
Now, nearly two decades later, scientists say their plan worked. These Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog populations are now mostly self-sustaining and have “a low probability of extinction over 50 years,” they write in the paper. They hope the successful reintroduction of Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frogs might serve as a source of inspiration for scientists working to save other species battling new diseases.
“These frogs have somehow figured out how to exist, even thrive in the face of this pathogen,” Knapp tells the San Francisco Chronicle’s Kurtis Alexander. “When I saw these frog populations recovering on their own, that was the first time in 15 years working on this species that I felt a glimmer of hope.”
HopeLink of Southern Nevada is hosting its first-ever “Dink for HopeLink” Pickleball Tournament. This is the organization’s main fundraiser of the year Join them for some friendly competition while helping raise money to PREVENT homelessness in Southern Nevada.
HopeLink of Southern Nevada is a non-profit family resource center providing much needed assistance to PREVENT families, individuals and vulnerable seniors from facing homelessness.
‘Dink for HopeLink’ is happening at CHICKEN N’ PICKLE June 28th, 2026 from 1:30pm – 5pm.
Nevada County is pleased to announce that Dr. Brian Evans has been selected to serve as Nevada County’s next Public Health Officer.
“Dr. Evans brings a long history of leadership in healthcare in Nevada County to the Health Officer position,” said Public Health Director Toby Guevin. “His expertise and knowledge of local health needs and providers across the county will be invaluable as we work to strengthen the health of our community. I also want to thank Dr. Cooke for her dedicated service as Health Officer for the past four years, guiding us through numerous challenges coming out of COVID 19.”
Dr. Evans was selected through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process, which drew from a pool of highly qualified candidates nationwide. His start date is planned for July 1, 2026, pending approval by the Board of Supervisors at their June 16 meeting.
“I’m honored to step into the role of Public Health Officer for Nevada County,” said Dr. Evans. “This is an opportunity to strengthen partnerships across the community, focusing on prevention, preparedness, and improving health outcomes. I look forward to supporting a science based public health team that is responsive, transparent, and grounded in the needs of our residents.”
Dr. Evans is a physician with more than two decades of clinical and leadership experience. Since 2022, he has served as Chief Medical Officer for Tahoe Forest Health, overseeing clinical quality, patient safety, emergency preparedness, communicable disease response, and regulatory compliance across two critical access hospitals and a broad network of services. He has served as both CEO and Chief Medical Officer at Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, and served as CEO at Mercy Folsom and Chief Medical Officer at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento.
A board-certified emergency physician, Dr. Evans practiced for 15 years in Grass Valley after completing residency at UC Davis. He holds an MD from UCLA, an MBA from CSU Sacramento, and a BS in Biology from UC Davis. Dr. Evans lives in Nevada County with his wife, Jennifer, and has two adult daughters.
California law requires each county to appoint a licensed physician as Health Officer. The Health Officer is responsible for carrying out provisions of the State Health and Safety Code and serves as the physician of record for all Public Health clinical services. The Health Officer reports to the Public Health Director.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The Nevada DMV Compliance Enforcement Division is cracking down on stolen luxury cars being openly sold on social media, with criminals listing them using code words and asking as little as a tenth of the normal price.
In one case, a 2021 Hellcat TRX was advertised for $12,000. The vehicle normally sells for at least $100,000.
In an ad for the high-end truck on Facebook, the first word of the description said “lien.”
“It’s pretty blatant. I mean, it’s like advertising drugs for sale online on a public website,” said JD Decker, chief of Nevada DMV’s Compliance Enforcement Division.
Decker said the word is code for stolen.
“You won’t be able to register it or title it in your name… therefore the discounted price,” Decker said.
Investigation leads to recovery
Decker’s team tracked down the truck in the city of Las Vegas.
“We found the vehicle had been stolen locally and then wrapped to hide the color and mask the vehicle,” Decker said.
There were other signs the vehicle was stolen. The person pulled out the module from under the dash and started it by hot wire, touching the wires together. The VIN was not centered and was not a stamped manufactured VIN. The VIN also had 16 digits instead of the standard 17. A fake temporary tag was also used.
The team got a warrant to arrest the seller, though they say he fled the state.
“That subject had his first court appearance and had an attorney appear on his behalf. We know he operated between a couple different states. He had previous charges in a couple different states,” Decker said.
Decker said these openly stolen cars advertised for sale are known as striker vehicles.
“When you’re selling a striker vehicle to someone who knows it’s stolen, you really don’t have to make much effort to hide the fact that it’s stolen because that’s kind of assumed in the transaction,” Decker said.
There are also websites that will advertise and sell striker vehicles. According to Decker, the negotiation takes place on offshore encrypted websites that aren’t subject to U.S. jurisdiction.
If you ever have doubts about a vehicle you want to buy, have the seller meet you at the DMV’s VIN inspection station.
“We’d be happy to do that. It’s free. There’s generally no waiting. And if the vehicle comes from out of state, it’s going to require a VIN inspection at DMV anyway,” Decker said.
Decker said his team is constantly on social media looking for stolen vehicles for sale, especially high-end vehicles. He said the ongoing problem with fake tags contributes to this problem. FOX5 has previously reported on that problem
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