Spotted frogs and toads signal cold-water habitat still holding

Columbia Spotted Frogs (Rana luteiventris) are active along the cold seeps and wetland margins here — two observations recorded in the past month, the most recent on July 21, right at the moment when this year's tadpoles are racing to metamorphose before September's first cold snap. Their presence suggests the cold, oxygen-rich springs and shallow ponds that define this glaciated landscape are still holding.

That matters: spotted frogs are unusually sensitive to thermal stress and have disappeared from much of their historical range as water temperatures have climbed and wetlands have dried. A Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) was recorded in the same area this week — two threatened amphibians in the same cold-water corridor in a single week is a small but real piece of evidence that something worth protecting is still here.