By LAWRENCE
R. HAJNA
Published: May 31, 2003
Courier-Post Online
This is the time of year when the quonk-quonk-quonking of
male Pine Barrens tree frogs enlivens the nighttime scene
around ponds, cranberry bogs and cedar swamps all across the
Pinelands.
The distinctive call is the tree frog's pick-up line, a way
of hooking up with girl Pine Barrens tree frogs.
"It's fascinating, really," says Howard Boyd, a
Tabernacle naturalist who has studied the region's wildlife
since 1938.
"You hear it off in the distance and, before you know
it, you're upon choruses of tree frogs. I can go out almost
any evening, it's almost deafening."
Hmmm, like Saturday nights at the Coastline.
Although common in the Pine Barrens, the tree frog has been
on the state's endangered species list since 1979 - the same
year the Pinelands Commission was formed to control development
in the million-acre Pinelands National Reserve.
This month, the Department of Environmental Protection upgraded
the tree frog's protection status from endangered to threatened,
meaning it's no longer deemed to be in grave peril.
The DEP says the tree frog's leap "is testimony to how
effective the Pinelands Commission has been at preserving
southern New Jersey's natural treasures."
No doubt the species would have been worse off without regional
development controls to protect its mating turf. But the Pine
Barrens tree frog was never in danger of being wiped out,
Boyd says.
From the outset, its designation as endangered was more a
reflection of a general concern about protecting the ecologically
unique region from development than a grim outlook for the
species.
"The Pine Barrens tree frog requires specialized habitats
that are rare elsewhere but common in the million-acre Pinelands
region of southern New Jersey," a DEP press release states.
The species has lost much of its habitat along other parts
of the East Coast, especially in North Carolina. So the upgrade
should not be interpreted as meaning "the tree frog is
out of the woods," argues Carleton Montgomery of the
Pinelands Preservation Alliance.
"The tree frog still needs our vigilance and our help.
While it still has this little island on which to thrive in
the Pine Barrens, that's all it has," he says.
As a practical matter, upgrading its status now does not
afford the tree frog any lesser or greater legal protection
from development projects, Montgomery says.
But Boyd fears there's a danger in sending the wrong message
to the public that things are just fine in the Pinelands.
The tree frog has grown into the unofficial symbol of the
Pinelands, a cute and almost huggable emblem of the struggle
between preservation and development.
It's also one of Boyd's favorites, a docile animal that often
will rest in the palm of his hand while he examines it.
"It's a charming little thing," he says.
Boyd describes the species in his definitive Pine Barrens
field guide as "bright emerald green with a broad band
of lavender bordered by white." It grows to a mere 1
1/2 inches in length.
But Boyd points out that tree frog habitat, though vast,
is still being lost piecemeal to development despite Pinelands
protections.
"The (threatened listing) is probably a more accurate
reflection of the tree frog's status," Boyd says. "I'm
not sure it's the right thing to do, however. If I had my
choice, I'd leave it where it was."
Reprinted from http://www.southjerseynews.com/issues/may/m053103g.htm
