Eco-activists team with prayer network to save hapless toad
This summer’s It amphibian — the endangered arroyo toad of California, famously dismissed as “hapless” by Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts — is in the news again. The Center for Biological Diversity has teamed up with Christians Caring for Creation to sue the Bush administration for allegedly nudging the toad toward extinction. In April 2005, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service drastically cut the amount of habitat set aside for the toad from 478,000 to 12,000 acres — not enough to ensure its survival, the two groups claim. The move highlights “the willingness of this administration to undermine the Endangered Species Act,” says David Hogan of the center, which has set up a website featuring the wee beastie at haplesstoad.com. “Despite its small size this toad needs a lot of land to complete its life cycle.”
