Brent,
i think there should be interest in such programs, even if they are only hypothetical. However I, like you would worry about the politics, and the elitism involved with implementing it, and detemining who who would be "worthy" or experienced enough to work with lehmanni or other similarily coveted frog.
As you have said before, (more or less) that the largest breeders may not be the best home for some of these specialized species that require more effort, and i agree with you completely here, while no doubt, they could keep these frogs alive and thriving, maybe "they" couldnt afford the time neccesary to play around with various parameters to induce reproduction. I myself know that i wouldnt as much time at the moment as may be neccesary to give lehmanni the attention they deserve.
so based on your falconry model, would their be a governing or regulating body determining this, and how would this be put into practice, through appointments, elections of sorts, self appointments etc. i wouldnt know where to start.
i would hope that if columbia ever opens that the "hobbiest" has a more direct role in the import procedure, i for one wouldnt be too thrilled to see lehmanni on a wholesaler list anytime soon.
How would you handle it Brent if you were responsible for directly importing 100 lehmanni and the distribution of them, Im playing devils advocate here a little, but id like to see where you would go with this because i think you are on to something here.
mark