This article originally appeared in the Off-Script print issue, in stands November 2025. It has not been updated and some information may be out of date.
Utah’s frog populations are dying, and it’s our fault. Despite our desert climate, Utah is home to many species of frogs. These frogs are under constant attack. From anthropogenic extinction to viral diseases, frog populations worldwide are under immediate threat, especially in Utah.
We need to take action to protect Utah’s amphibians from extinction.
Utah’s frog-killing history
The presence of frogs indicated to the settlers where safe drinking water was available. Utah’s frogs have been important since it was first settled, and we need to protect their home because it’s ours too. One of Utah’s native frog species is the Columbia Spotted frog. From the 1990s to the present, these frogs have seen a severe decline in population numbers due to human impact.
In 1990, the Columbia spotted frog was so rare that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began reviewing it for endangered species protections. At the same time, the construction of the Jordanelle dam began at the largest breeding spot for Colombia Spotted frogs. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed these frogs by not protecting them as an endangered species. Late U.S. Sen. Jake Garn, when reviewing the species for protection, dismissed the frogs as a “minor species.”
In 1990, Sen. Garn told the Salt Lake Tribune, “If the people who are pushing this think they can stop the [Jordanelle dam], then I’ll stop the whole Senate.”
As construction for the dam finished, the number of breeding sites for Columbia Spotted frogs was changed from two to one. After 2007, there were officially no more breeding sites for these frogs. When faced with the choice between environmental capitalism and the well-being of an entire species, they picked capitalism. As a direct result, the Columbia Spotted Frog population has decreased by nearly 80%.
Utah’s mountain and desert nights used to be filled with the music of hundreds of frogs singing. There used to be nights when you could watch frogs dance across valley floors as they jumped out of footpaths and into puddles. Now, frogs are hard to come by as Utah’s vast habitats are changed into endless mazes of suburbia.
What’s killing the frogs?
The primary killer of Utah’s frogs is Utahns. Human negligence serves as the deciding factor between saving the species and condemning it to extinction.
We are currently in a mass extinction called the Holocene extinction, which is an anthropogenic extinction. This is the sixth mass extinction and it’s caused by us. Humans are the ones responsible for this extinction, which is affecting many species of plants and animals, including amphibians.
One of the major culprits of the worldwide frog extinction is a fungus called Chytridiomycosis. This fungus attacks the skin of amphibians, making it impossible for them to breathe. It’s a rapid killer that spreads quickly throughout habitats.
Across the world, chytrid is responsible for the extinction of 90 species of frogs and dwindling populations of 400 additional species. When chytrid is found within frog populations, in a matter of mere months, frogs begin to die off. Utah’s frogs aren’t safe from chytrid and this is our fault. Chytrid has been able to spread so quickly because of climate change. As temperatures increase, chytrid thrives amongst frog populations, leaving amphibians defenseless against the fungus.
Students and amphibians
Ella King, an ecology and environmental biology student at UC Boulder, said, “I think that urbanization has a big impact [on frogs], especially in Utah. People moving to Utah … is definitely causing desertification and habitat fragmentation.” King said, “The best thing people can do individually is clean their boots when they go to a new hiking area. Also not picking [amphibians] up, but also not wearing sunscreen and bug spray and picking them up.”
“I think that amphibians are a wonderful type of animal. Amphibians are good to us in a lot of ways. They keep the insect population down. They often are an indicator species, so when you see a decline in amphibians, that means a lot of things are following that,” King said.
Utah officials have continually failed the state’s frogs. As Utahns in the middle of a sixth mass extinction, we owe it to each other and to our environment to take care of our amphibians and their habitats.
Frogs and other wetland creatures were what helped Mormon pioneers know Utah was a beautiful and rich environment to settle in. Utah is their home as much as it is ours, and we need to protect them as much as we can.
