The Interior Department, the National Wildlife Federation and the creators of the television series "Kratt's Creatures" have formed a partnership and called on Americans to join their "Frog Force" to help protect amphibians.
The partnership will offer schools, families and individuals help in monitoring frog populations through classroom instructional materials, a new Interior Web site, and public service announcements. The goal is to better understand recent frog population declines and deformities.
In addition, on Tuesday Interior convened the first meeting of the new federal inter-agency Taskforce on Amphibian Decline and Deformities, which will focus on education, science and conservation efforts. The task force includes representatives from the Interior, Agriculture, Education and Energy departments, as well as the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Smithsonian Institution and the National Science Foundation.
"These new partnerships will add immeasurably to our ability to understand and solve these unexplained and disturbing losses in amphibian populations," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "When these ancient and hardy creatures [are] in trouble, it's very likely that a host of others are not far behind."