Comment on FR Doc # E9-25883

Fish and Wildlife Service Leopard Frog Comments 11/27/09 During the past 20 years, I have documented conditions of riparian areas in our public lands and National Forests in Idaho, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado. What I have observed is the destruction of springs, riparian areas and wetlands by livestock grazing and by dewatering to place them in pipelines for stock tanks. It has appeared clear to me for the past two decades that livestock grazing and its associated destruction and pollution of our springs, streams, wetlands and riparian areas explains most of the loss of ampibian and fish species due to direct habitat alteration and loss. I have attached a link to my ftp site that contains several reports that can be downloaded. The files are large (189 MB) due to the photographs included. These reports contain photographs and data showing this destruction as well as an American Fisheries Society publication that describes the loss of streams due to conversion to intermittent, ephemeral from perennial due to livestock grazing. This particular data set was recently submitted for the listing of Bonneville Cutthroat Trout and is equally applicable in the case of the Northern leopard frog. http://www.box.net/shared/f4ggiwikg0 The Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service have not managed livestock grazing to restore these damaged ecosystems, in fact, they continue the status quo and attempt to address degradation by more of the same, i.e., more water developments without any protections to assure that the water sources and their associated wetlands are protected. As a result they are grazed, trampled and destroyed. When you realize that about 90% of our BLM lands and 70% of our National Forests here in the west are grazed by livestock, the scope of the damage should be clear. Please review the submissions and provide a favorable listing decision to protect the leopard frog. Yours truly, Dr. John G Carter Utah Director, WWP