The oregon spotted frog (OSF) is a species of cultural importance to the samish indian nation.OSF habitat provides a healthy environment for other culturally significant and traditional useplant and…

The Samish Indian Nation received a $200,000 Project Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Tribal Wildlife Grants program (CFDA 15.639) to implement an Oregon Spotted Frog (OSF) habitat restoration project. The project aims to: 1) Increase and maintain high-quality OSF breeding and rearing habitat by managing invasive vegetation and preventing bullfrog establishment; 2) Gather microclimate and hydrological data through on-site monitoring; 3) Produce outreach materials for Samish River landowners; and 4) Conduct OSF surveys during the breeding season. The grant will fund these activities over a two-year period from January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2025. The project builds on five years of prior OSF monitoring in the Samish River watershed and aims to contribute to the scientific knowledge and management of this culturally significant species.

The oregon spotted frog (OSF) is a species of cultural importance to the samish indian nation.OSF habitat provides a healthy environment for other culturally significant and traditional useplant and animal species. In 2018, the samish indian nation received funding to implement anosf habitat restoration project including emergent pre-vegetated mats (evms), installing ameteorological tower and monitoring OSF EGG masses. The proposed project follows five yearsof oregon spotted frog monitoring at an OSF breeding site on the samish river in skagitcounty, washington. This project seeks to continue and build on previous work at this site by:1. Increase, and maintain high quality OSF breeding and rearing habitat by managinginvasive reed canary grass and any encroaching overhead vegetation, maintaining evmrestoration plots, and performing best practices for detecting preventing bullfrogs frombecoming established in the area.2. Gather additional microclimate and hydrological data through monitoring an onsitemeteorological tower, implementing two hydrology ports, and measuring water levelsand temperature at each OSF EGG mass.3. Produce outreach materials to be shared with samish river landowners.4. Conduct oregon spotted frog surveys during breeding season.to achieve these objectives, samish indian nation is requesting 200,000 over a period of twoyears (1 1 2024 12 31 2025). This funding will be used to monitor and maintain threepreviously restored restoration plots and create additional habitat around evms by cutting andclearing invasive reed canary grass (RCG) to maintain connectivity to the water. Hydrologyports will be installed to monitor water levels, persistence, and rate of change, thus determininghabitat suitability and OSF preferences over time. OSF EGG mass data will also be collectedduring the breeding season. EGG predation monitoring using timelapse cameras and audiodevices to detect american bull frogs will also be used.additionally, we will create a brochure to distribute to landowners upstream and downstream ofour site. By establishing connections with adjacent landowners, we can get a more completepicture of the OSF population in this reach of the stream, with the hope of expanding monitoringto adjacent properties in the future.once the project is complete, GIS based maps indicating OSF oviposition locations will becreated for easy data sharing with project partners and the greater oregon spotted frog workinggroup. The samish indian nation has developed a working relationship with the landowners, one ofwhom is an enrolled samish tribal citizen and has obtained permission to conduct the activitiesproposed through a contract. The owners are eager to continue supporting this project andenthusiastic about OSF habitat restoration. The proposed project will contribute to the body of scientific knowledge and inform future stateand federal management practices. With OSF habitat management, outreach to adjacentlandowners, and the continued ability to work with project partners, this project has the potentialto make a substantial and positive impact on OSF populations within the samish river watershed.