[kmk5g]

Hi,
Please check out savethefrogs.com if you haven't yet. Lots of info on amphibian extinctions, threats to frogs, ways to help, etc...

There are cool savethefrogs.com bumper stickers and SAVE THE FROGS! t-shirts as well, if you want to support their conservation activities.
Frog Posters | T-shirts | Bumper Stickers | Gifts

 

[jehitch]

Hi,
Please check out savethefrogs.com if you haven't yet. Lots of info on amphibian extinctions, threats to frogs, ways to help, etc...

There are cool savethefrogs.com bumper stickers and SAVE THE FROGS! t-shirts as well, if you want to support their conservation activities.
Frog Posters | T-shirts | Bumper Stickers | Gifts

Am I too cynical to point out there are already great conservation organizations out there working on amphibian conservation, and the organizers of this group could avoid duplicating efforts by helping AArk or TWI, instead of starting a new organization?
Jim

 

[Roadrunner]

You also might want to fact check your page
How to Help Save Frogs

The mountain yellow legged frog is dissappearing because of chytrid. The extra limbs on frogs occurs because of agricultural fertilizer runoff. It creates algal blooms which increase the number of snails ,which host a parasite, that lodges in limb budding sites creating multiple limbs. It`s the increase in snails that increases the # of parasites available to affect tadpoles.

 

[jehitch]

You also might want to fact check your page
How to Help Save Frogs

The mountain yellow legged frog is dissappearing because of chytrid. The extra limbs on frogs occurs because of agricultural fertilizer runoff. It creates algal blooms which increase the number of snails ,which host a parasite, that lodges in limb budding sites creating multiple limbs. It`s the increase in snails that increases the # of parasites available to affect tadpoles.

Which certainly casts doubt on the "truthiness" of this statement from the home page:

Who we are
SAVE THE FROGS! is an international team of scientists, educators, policymakers and naturalists dedicated to protecting the world’s amphibian species:

There are a lot of other telltale signs that this site is actually the product of some guy banging out Dreamweaver pages in his parents basement, using conservation as a way to sell crappy Cafe Press products.

 

[kmk5g]

You also might want to fact check your page
How to Help Save Frogs

The mountain yellow legged frog is dissappearing because of chytrid. The extra limbs on frogs occurs because of agricultural fertilizer runoff. It creates algal blooms which increase the number of snails ,which host a parasite, that lodges in limb budding sites creating multiple limbs. It`s the increase in snails that increases the # of parasites available to affect tadpoles.

Hi frogfarm,
Chytrid is indeed a serious threat to this frog (Rachowicz et al. 2006), which is one reason I have spent the last 5 years conducting research on chytridiomycosis, a topic on which I have published 15 papers in peer-reviewed international journals such as Conservation Biology, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, Journal of Zoology and Diseases of Aquatic Organisms.

Introduced trout are another major threat (Vredenburg 2004).
And pesticides are a threat as well (Davidson 2004; Davidson et al. 2007).
There are rarely solitary threats to amphibians (Davidson and Knapp 2007).

REFERENCES
Davidson C (2004). Declining downwind: amphibian population declines in California and historical pesticide use. Ecological Applications 14:1892-1902.

Davidson C, Benard MF, Shaffer HB, Parker JM, O'Leary C, Conlon JM, et al. (2007). Effects of chytrid and carbaryl on survival, growth and skin peptide defenses in foothill yellow-legged frogs. Environmental Science Technology 41:1771-1776.

Davidson C, and Knapp RA (2007). Multiple stressors and amphibian declines: dual impacts of pesticides and fish on Yellow Legged Frogs. Ecological Applications 17:587–597

Rachowicz LJ, Knapp RA, Morgan JAT, Stice MJ, Vredenburg VT, Parker JM, et al. (2006). Emerging infectious disease as a proximate cause of amphibian mass mortality. Ecology 87:1671-1683.

Vredenburg VT (2004). Reversing introduced species effects: experimental removal of introduced fish leads to rapid recovery of a declining frog. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, USA 101:7646-7650.

 

[Roadrunner]

And who are you? You haven`t introduced yourself or even given a name?
You don`t have to quote there is usually more than one problem, I realize that. Not listing the main killer for a specific locality of frogs might not look good when your trying to save frogs. People who saw Jeff Corwin`s special would think your not up on the situation since Chytrid is the main problem there, and has been for years.

 

[elscotto]

Which certainly casts doubt on the "truthiness" of this statement from the home page:

There are a lot of other telltale signs that this site is actually the product of some guy banging out Dreamweaver pages in his parents basement, using conservation as a way to sell crappy Cafe Press products.

It seems a bit premature to accuse this guy of merely capitalizing on amphibian declines to sell stuff. Dr. Kriger, Executive Director of the organization, does in fact have several peer-reviewed publications. Although I don't know him, his CV is posted on-line, and there is a link about the folks associated with "Save the Frogs" under "Who We Are."
Perhaps this info about the people affiliated with the site wasn't available at the site before, but there are actually a number of very respected scientists listed under "Board of Directors" and "Advisory Committee."
-Scott

 

[Brian Ferriera]

And yet he wont ever sign his name..I am sorry but people who cant use their real name drive me nuts..
Brian

 

[kmk5g]

Hi everyone,
I apologize if my lack of a name introduction did not follow protocol; I am new to forums, and assumed my username, which bears my initials, would suffice. Also, I tend to avoid adding my name to publicly searchable places when I can avoid it. I am indeed the aforementioned Dr. Kerry Kriger, and am Founder & Executive Director of SAVE THE FROGS! (SAVE THE FROGS!), which is a nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation.

SAVE THE FROGS! has an Advisory Committee and a Board of Directors, as well as Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws that clearly state our legally recognized and enforceable nonprofit status and intentions. All this information has been publicly accessible on our Who We Are page since April 2008, when I built the website: Conservation Biology | Herpetology | Ecology

Information about me (including my background, publications, awards, and CV) is available at: Kerry Kriger

You will notice if you go to our donations page (which I hope you do, as SAVE THE FROGS! has a dearth of funding, and cannot accomplish our conservation goals without money) that no member of SAVE THE FROGS!, including myself, has ever received a paycheck. Thus, while I have indeed sat in a basement once or twice banging out Dreamweaver pages, as “jehitch” suggested, this has been done at my personal expense. Further, the pages I bang out are of high quality and high value, as every page bears my name and I take personal pride in every page of savethefrogs.com. I wonder if those who lambasted my original post would sacrifice 5 months of their full time effort, unpaid, to amphibian conservation, as I have done for SAVE THE FROGS!, and as I did for the first 2 years of my Ph.D. research. If indeed they would, they are free to contact me, as I can always use more SAVE THE FROGS! volunteers.

In response to the comments regarding the usefulness of SAVE THE FROGS!, everybody reading this thread should be very clear that amphibian conservation is failing, and that the species extinction rate is as high as at any point in the past thirty years, which is to say, 10,000 times higher than the fossil record suggests it should be. Nearly one-third of the world’s 6,450 amphibian species are threatened with extinction and may not survive the 21st century, and 200 species have already completely disappeared. With only 2,000 professional amphibian biologists worldwide, that means there is approximately one human being per threatened amphibian species. Just as you have a minimal chance of saving the human race from extinction by yourself, so too do amphibian biologists have only a slight chance of saving 2,000 species from extinction, if things remain as they are.

Drastic actions need to occur, and these actions are not being sufficiently taken care of by Treewalkers, Amphibian Ark, or any other group, though it should be clear that all of these groups are an essential part of the battle to save amphibians from the current mass extinction crisis they are in, and they all do their jobs well. The problem is that the scope of the amphibian extinction crisis is far more complex and overwhelming than the herpetological community currently has the monetary resources or manpower to overcome. Thus SAVE THE FROGS! is not “re-creating the wheel” as stated above. For instance, do you know of any amphibian conservation group that offers full scholarships to potential Ph.D. candidates? I do not. Will we be able to increase the number of herpetologists, or the amount of herpetological research if we cannot offer grants or scholarships, which would lure undergraduates into the field of herpetology when it comes time for them to seek out Ph.D. positions? No. People write me all the time asking for research money. I know of nowhere to send them, as money for herpetological research is hard to come by. What percent of the human population knows that amphibians are rapidly disappearing? 1%? Maybe 2%? I’ll guess less than 0.001%. Will politicians take action to reduce pesticide use if there is an uneducated public that does not demand action? No. Will they stop the new supermarket from building on that unprotected ephemeral wetland behind your house? No.

In response to FrogFarm, my previous post clearly and explicitly references several well-cited and well-written papers from well-respected journals detailing multiple threats to the mountain yellow frog. FrogFarm, do you know that chytrid is spread by the human movement of amphibians? If you own a frog farm, what steps do you take to ensure that you are not a contributor to the problem? What percent of amateurs and professionals involved in the trade or shipment of amphibians test every single amphibian for every known amphibian disease? None. Is it possible to test for diseases that we have yet to identify? No. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, causative agent of chytridiomycosis, which in terms of biodiversity loss is the worst disease ever recorded, was not discovered until 1998; I often wonder how many other emerging infectious diseases are currently being shipped around the world unbeknownst to even those people who love frogs, as I’m sure you do. Have either TreeWalkers, AmphibianArk or any other conservation organization infiltrated every single pet store in America, China, Indonesia and India with sufficient information regarding such issues? I will guess that they have not.

So I think we can all agree that amphibian conservation has a long way to go. I welcome your future support for SAVE THE FROGS! and welcome any constructive comments.

With all due respect,
Kerry

***********************************************
Dr. Kerry Kriger
SAVE THE FROGS! Nonprofit Organization
Executive Director
Ecologist
SAVE THE FROGS!
Kerry Kriger

P.O. Box 2145
Centreville, VA 20122 USA
Phone (USA): 703-376-7945
[email protected]

"All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be
finished in the first 1,000 days...but let us begin." -- John F.
Kennedy

 

[kyle1745]

They do have a "Who We Are" page:
Conservation Biology | Herpetology | Ecology

 

[Scott]

That's fine Kyle - but he just finally posted what he probably should have posted in the first place.

A full, concise, introduction to both himself and his organization.

s

 

[sports_doc]

nice

IMO
I see no foul in the Dr's initial post or in the way he responded to the less then hospitable responses. Let's try giving someone a chance, particularly since it would appear the Dr does have a vested interest in the animals we all profess to care deeply about.

case in point...
You all wanted to see a big introduction but..personally I only know jehitch as 'Jim' signed under some of his posts, frogfarm as frogfarm [yes I know you Aaron but for anyone else finding your bio introduction on DB now would be impossible if it exists at all], Brian of course couldnt think of a more entertaining screenname so he used the one is parents thought up , and Scott as s from Maine. Maybe now everyone should introduce themselves to Dr Kriger. no?

What I'm saying here is that the Dr could have been offered some reasonable benefit of doubt, yes? and perhaps initially just asked to provide more information to the community? Which he eventually did despite the cold welcome.

Signed,
Shawn
[an M.D. from N.H., who knows precious little on how to protect the amphibians of this planet, but desires that someone be allowed to try. A frog fancier who finds it hard enough just to keep his own damn animals alive, and a DB assistant who is all too often surprised by how his frog friends behave online].

 

[Brian Ferriera]

nice

IMO
I see no foul in the Dr's initial post or in the way he responded to the less then hospitable responses. Let's try giving someone a chance, particularly since it would appear the Dr does have a vested interest in the animals we all profess to care deeply about.

case in point...
You all wanted to see a big introduction but..personally I only know jehitch as 'Jim' signed under some of his posts, frogfarm as frogfarm [yes I know you Aaron but for anyone else finding your bio introduction on DB now would be impossible if it exists at all], Brian of course couldnt think of a more entertaining screenname so he used the one is parents thought up , and Scott as s from Maine. Maybe now everyone should introduce themselves to Dr Kriger. no?

What I'm saying here is that the Dr could have been offered some reasonable benefit of doubt, yes? and perhaps initially just asked to provide more information to the community? Which he eventually did despite the cold welcome.

Signed,
Shawn
[an M.D. from N.H., who knows precious little on how to protect the amphibians of this planet, but desires that someone be allowed to try. A frog fancier who finds it hard enough just to keep his own damn animals alive, and a DB assistant who is all too often surprised by how his frog friends behave online].

If I dint use my real name that make me a hypocrite .
Brian

 

[Scott]

No need as I am not asking you to support my cause or organization.

Now - if I'm trying to sell something, I make darn sure people know who I am.

That said - things were settled just fine before you posted Shawn. No need for it.

s

[edit: ... and as negative as this reads, I stand by it. If I'm going to ask a board to "support my (our) cause", I'm going to introduce myself. When I wrote on behalf of IAD and/or TWI - I always signed my full name and my location. This is exactly the same thing.]

... and Scott as s from Maine. Maybe now everyone should introduce themselves to Dr Kriger. no? ...

 

[jehitch]

<snip>(SAVE THE FROGS!), which is a nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to amphibian conservation.

Dr. Kriger
Forgive my cynicism, developed through 25 years spent as a journalist. But, the first thing I do when a group suggests it is a nonprofit organization is to search its site for an indication as to its legal nonprofit status. I checked all the obvious places a nonprofit group would normally list this information on its website, and have not been able to locate it.

Can you tell me where this information is listed, or explain under what governmental agency regulations your group is classified as nonprofit?

Also, your site states

SAVE THE FROGS! is a registered trademark of Kerry Kriger

Can you tell me why this trademark is registered in your name as an individual, instead of the organization which bears its name?

Also, a search of Google brings up no mentions of your group in articles by either on-line or print media in the first five pages of results. Can you supply some links to articles that have been written about your organization that have appeared in the media?

Thanks
Jim Hitchcock
Rainforest Station

 

[kmk5g]

Hi Jim,
SAVE THE FROGS! is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a nonprofit, nonstock organization, meaning (1) no employee or director can take bonuses or salaries higher than is a legitimate income, and (2) when the organization dissolves the assets must be distributed to a 501(c)(3) organization, and not to the Board of Directors. Our Articles of Incorporation and Corporate Bylaws are available at the top of our Who We Are page, in paragraph #1: Conservation Biology | Herpetology | Ecology
If you would like further details regarding our nonprofit status, please contact me via email, as this is not an appropriate venue for that material to be discussed.

An article on SAVE THE FROGS! that I wrote, and which is published in Phyllomedusa, a South American Journal of Herpetology, is here:
http://www.savethefrogs.com/kerry_kriger/pdfs/Kriger-2008-Phyllomedusa-SAVE-THE-FROGS-7-2.pdf

There are no "official" articles on us, based on our lack of funds with which to advertise, and the fact that I have not yet been able to direct much time towards this. However, I currently have a team of volunteers compiling contact information for radio stations and newspapers in their state's large metropolitan areas, and I will soon be contacting them to raise publicity for April 28th's Save The Frogs Day: Save The Frogs Day | April 28, 2009
Anybody reading this thread is welcome to send us an email if they wish to do the same and we can get you set up. Any reader who knows media contacts should please email me at [email protected]. Anybody with children should show their teachers the Save The Frogs Day webpage.

Regarding the trademark, which is lodged with the USPTO, it is in my name, (1) because I thought of it and was first to use it in commerce, which took place prior to the incorporation of SAVE THE FROGS!, and (2) the USPTO application for trademarks required it be in one person's name.

Regarding http://savethefrogs.com/cafepress
This page was conceived of, designed, and is maintained by a SAVE THE FROGS! volunteer. As stated on that site, all our proceeds go to our amphibian conservation efforts. Cafepress does not write checks out in my name, but instead in the name of the organization. All those products help us spread the word about amphibian declines and raise money to take action. Plus they look good. If you have seen a better Frogs of Australia calendar, please let me know.

I strongly encourage everybody reading this thread to buy something at SAVE THE FROGS! - Gifts for Frog Lovers or to pick up an educational Frogs of Australia poster in the SAVE THE FROGS! gift center Frog Posters | T-shirts | Bumper Stickers | Gifts

And no, I have no qualms about such a blatant advertisement, being that (1) it positively benefits amphibian conservation, and the money is direly needed, and (2) this forum has required an hour or two of my time tonight. This time could have been spent doing any number of perhaps more crucial tasks; though of course I welcome the discussion.

If you want to keep track of what I am up to on a daily basis, please follow me on Twitter:

Twitter / savethefrogs

and/or on the soon to be announced FrogBlog: The FrogBlog
(constructed by another SAVE THE FROGS! volunteer).

Sincerely,
Kerry
(if my first name will now suffice in posts. I am always contactable through the savethefrogs.com contact page).

 

[kmk5g]

I will also add that while we have received little media attention (in part due to our being less than one year old), the SAVE THE FROGS! logo and link is found on the AmphibiaWeb homepage. This is a PageRank7 site that receives 25,000 queries per day and is maintained by UCBerkeley. We are also currently featured on the AmphibiaTree | Assembling the Amphibian Tree of Life homepage.

That hopefully convinces the remaining skeptics of the authenticity of SAVE THE FROGS!.
Kerry

 

[Roadrunner]

Hello Dr. Kriger,
I apologize but I have been around the pet trade for 20+ years and I`ve seen a lot of swindler`s. I don`t have the time to hit up your whole page and verify your credentials and validity of your organization.
I pushed hard for conservation donations to be a part of the classifieds here. I`ve donated over, well a lot of money to other organizations to save amphibians in the past. I get chytrid tests done on my frogs. I`m buying and managing critical amphibian habitat. I only buy animals that have been tested for chytrid or test them when they arrive. I only breed to sell, I don`t just buy amphibians and sell them to make a buck. I know a lot of jobbers and no, they don`t test. Chytrid is already throughout most of the U.S. and it`s been spread thru most states by the fishing bait industry, thru tads scooped up w/ the bait and thru salamanders. Are you aware that it can also be spread on researchers bagged muddy boots for a time? Also, TWI is working on supplying a testing program for people breeding amphibians in the pet trade. So, yes, I`m pretty aware of the problem and the situation.
What is your proposal for the pet trade in regards to the next infectious disease? Ban it or to educate? I guarantee that very little of the pet trade will sterilize, test and treat. If your wroking towards halting transport or imposing restrictions on amphibians your hindering our efforts to keep the species alive in captivity.
If your going to solicit donations from a group of people who, mostly, are breeding frogs because we know their perils, you have to understand that w/out an introduction, you aren`t going to get a warm welcome. We thought we knew of all the legitimate amphibian conservation organizations out there.
And sportsdoc, my website is in my signature and I`m not asking for donations. I think Brent himself did a write up here about TWI before asking for donations and has been an active member of the community. I haven`t seen anyone from SaveAFrog here either and we`ve had most of the other organizations as speakers at Naac or IAD or MWFF, etc. Don`t act like it wasn`t normal to be skeptical.
I can`t donate in this economy and already am working w/ some good organizations but I could always advise on breeding frogs for free and do.
Sincerely, Aaron Handzlik
Aaron`s Frog Farm

In response to FrogFarm, my previous post clearly and explicitly references several well-cited and well-written papers from well-respected journals detailing multiple threats to the mountain yellow frog. FrogFarm, do you know that chytrid is spread by the human movement of amphibians? If you own a frog farm, what steps do you take to ensure that you are not a contributor to the problem? What percent of amateurs and professionals involved in the trade or shipment of amphibians test every single amphibian for every known amphibian disease? None. Is it possible to test for diseases that we have yet to identify? No. Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, causative agent of chytridiomycosis, which in terms of biodiversity loss is the worst disease ever recorded, was not discovered until 1998; I often wonder how many other emerging infectious diseases are currently being shipped around the world unbeknownst to even those people who love frogs, as I’m sure you do. Have either TreeWalkers, AmphibianArk or any other conservation organization infiltrated every single pet store in America, China, Indonesia and India with sufficient information regarding such issues? I will guess that they have not.

So I think we can all agree that amphibian conservation has a long way to go. I welcome your future support for SAVE THE FROGS! and welcome any constructive comments.

With all due respect,
Kerry

***********************************************
Dr. Kerry Kriger
SAVE THE FROGS! Nonprofit Organization
Executive Director
Ecologist
SAVE THE FROGS!
Kerry Kriger

P.O. Box 2145
Centreville, VA 20122 USA
Phone (USA): 703-376-7945
[email protected]

"All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be
finished in the first 1,000 days...but let us begin." -- John F.
Kennedy

 

[jehitch]

Hi Jim,
SAVE THE FROGS! is incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia as a nonprofit, nonstock organization, meaning (1) no employee or director can take bonuses or salaries higher than is a legitimate income, and (2) when the organization dissolves the assets must be distributed to a 501(c)(3) organization, and not to the Board of Directors.

Dr. Kriger,
Thanks for the additional information. A search of the IRS database of charities and nonprofit organizations does not come up with any groups with your name. Can you email me with information as to your IRS status? My email is [email protected].

There are no "official" articles on us, based on our lack of funds with which to advertise, and the fact that I have not yet been able to direct much time towards this. However, I currently have a team of volunteers compiling contact information for radio stations and newspapers in their state's large metropolitan areas, and I will soon be contacting them to raise publicity for April 28th's Save The Frogs Day: Save The Frogs Day | April 28, 2009

Editorial copy in major print media is not based on advertising dollars spent. If you don't mind a little advice from someone who spent his lifetime in print media, this should be one of your first priorities upon forming a new group.

Start with your local newspapers, and contact the features editor suggesting your organization warrants a story. A story in a local newspaper may not seem important, but it lends credibility, and can be used to leverage coverage from larger publications.

This time of year tends to be a slow time for news stories, so you need to hit this quick before the news cycle starts ramping up for the beginning of summer. Other good times to hit up the media for coverage are late summer, the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, and shortly after the first of the year. These are times that journalists are scrambling to find stories to fill their publications.

Regarding the trademark, which is lodged with the USPTO, it is in my name, (1) because I thought of it and was first to use it in commerce, which took place prior to the incorporation of SAVE THE FROGS!, and (2) the USPTO application for trademarks required it be in one person's name.

A quick search of the USPTO database disagrees with point #2

Word Mark COCA-COLA
Owner (APPLICANT) The Coca-Cola Company CORPORATION DELAWARE One Coca-Cola Plaza Atlanta GEORGIA 30313

Regarding http://savethefrogs.com/cafepress
This page was conceived of, designed, and is maintained by a SAVE THE FROGS! volunteer. As stated on that site, all our proceeds go to our amphibian conservation efforts. Cafepress does not write checks out in my name, but instead in the name of the organization.

Another bit of unsolicited advice: One of the major factors used in analyzing nonprofit effectiveness is the percentage of donors' dollars that go to cover overhead costs. Cafe Press is about the least cost efficient method of creating promotional items. If you worked with a local printer, a much higher percentage of donors' dollars would go toward frog conservation.

(2) this forum has required an hour or two of my time tonight. This time could have been spent doing any number of perhaps more crucial tasks; though of course I welcome the discussion.

With all due respect, what tasks are more crucial than publicizing your organization with a group of people that is arguably the most knowledgeable and active in frog conservation of any discussion board on the internet?

The best of luck with your endeavors, and I applaud your willingness to work toward these goals. But I continue to maintain the opinion that your efforts might be more well spent helping an existing organization that already has answered all of these questions I've posed, rather than having to spend crucial time answering them all over again.

Thank you again for spending the time to clear up my concerns,
JIm

 

[kmk5g]

Hi Jim,

With regards to using Cafepress as opposed to using a local printer:

(1) Cafepress reaches a wider audience, as many people who would never end up at SAVE THE FROGS! end up at Cafepress.

(2) SAVE THE FROGS! only has the funds, manpower and warehouse space to stock so much. Cafepress is print-on-demand, they handle all transactions, and it generates revenue at no time or monetary expense to SAVE THE FROGS!

(3) SAVE THE FROGS! does indeed print certain items:
Frog Posters | T-shirts | Bumper Stickers | Gifts
Our number of items will grow as our logistical infrastucture and finances grow.

With regards to SAVE THE FROGS!' overhead:
We have no offices and therefore pay no rent. I'll also re-iterate that SAVE THE FROGS! has been an entirely volunteer effort, and neither myself nor my volunteers who created cafepress.com/savethefrogs have ever been paid.

Regarding contacting the media:
I agree 100%. There is nothing in the news now. As I said I have a team of volunteers collecting radio stations and newspapers' contact info and I will start contacting them ASAP. If it has not been done it is because, as you can imagine, I have 325 other things on my list as well. I am the webmaster, fundraiser, account (yes indeed we do have a 501(c)(3) form in review with the IRS, who is incredibly slow to review these things), publicist, marketer, graphic designer, warehouse shipping boy, and a multitude of other things. I also still attempt to write scientific papers. Anybody reading this thread is of course welcome to call their local news agency and tell them to contact me at [email protected] if they wish to interview me.

And yes, I agree that Dendroboard discussions are valuable. As I said, this was my first post to the board. I am glad it has generated some discussion, which I was not expecting.

Regarding the USPTO: A highly respected and experienced lawyer handled the application.

As for me dissolving SAVE THE FROGS! and working at another organization instead:
(1) Which organization, and in what respect?

(2) Do they have funds to hire me? None have yet approached me offering me a job (though I have not solicited work from them).

(3) Who then will take care of all the things SAVE THE FROGS! does and has plans to do, for which no other organization has plans?

Who is giving out scholarships? I can't think of any amphibian conservation organization that has offered a $20,000 Ph.D. scholarship in recent years. My own came from the National Geographic Society and the Eppley Foundation for Research, two organizations with no specific interest in amphibians.

Who is giving out Conference Travel Grants to students? Did you know that SAVE THE FROGS! is the only organization that is currently offering a travel grant to students so they can present research at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in July?

What amphibian conservation organization is hiring lawyers to fight bad laws and bad businesses? The Center for Biological Diversity (NOT an amphibian conservation organization) is the only organization I know of with an amphibian-related lawsuit going (one total lawsuit).

What other organization has a goal of making the amphibian extinction crisis common knowledge by 2013? No other amphibian conservation organizations have these goals.

(4) Would a rose by any other name not smell as sweet? Why does it matter what name I choose to work under? Personally, I think SAVE THE FROGS! is a great name. It conveys instant meaning and the ordinary person on the street likes it and remembers it.

You appear to be a professional breeder. Would you think it odd if in this free society, which we are so proud of, I suggested you should be working with FrogFarm? And I don't mean you would be in CHARGE of FrogFarm's operation, I mean you would work FOR FrogFarm. He would be your boss and you would do as he commands. Want to go breed frogs in Costa Rica this winter? "Sorry Jim, we need you here at the FrogFarm. Maybe next winter if you're good." You'd probably think that was ludicrous!

Please also remember that the IUCN, CI, WWF, CBD, Sierra Club, NRDC and a multitude of other great organizations do not focus on amphibians. Should we depend on them to protect amphibians? That is not their mission. They may care about amphibians today, but maybe it would be wolves tomorrow and bears the next day.

Kerry
SAVE THE FROGS!