Photo Credit: Brian Curry

When new species are discovered it is usually in association to a remote and undeveloped ecosystem.  But, a new species of leopard frog is breaking that stereotype.  The new frog species was discovered in NYC, with the center of its range being identified as Yankee Stadium!

Unlike other leopard frogs whose calls are described as a “long snore” or “rapid chuckle,” this new species has a “short, repetitive croak.”

I’m sure with baseball season ahead of us, if you listen carefully you will hear their unique croaks cheering on their home team.

For more information on the discovery check out the CNN article – “Ribbit! Frog species found in New York City has a croak of its own.”

Several Town Creek Foundation grantees – Waterkeeper Alliance, the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic, and the Assateague Coastkeeper – are involved in a controversial lawsuit alleging that the Perdue Company and one of its contract growers have run afoul of the Clean Water Act.

As is to be expected whenever citizens seek to hold power accountable, the air has grown thick with the stench of corporate populism. A Perdue-financed public relations campaign is fomenting anger against ‘deep pocketed New York-based environmentalists’ looking to destroy family farms on the Eastern Shore, and some of our elected officials – impatient with the workings of the legal system, and unburdened by significant acquaintance with the facts of the case – have gone after the plaintiffs and their attorneys.

In this context, a serious, thoughtful consideration of the various dimensions of the case is difficult to come by.

Not impossible though.

Town Creek-grantee Marc Steiner has interviewed just about all of the relevant parties – Perdue officials, Alan Hudson, the Assateague Coastkeeper, and Scot Edwards and Michele Merkel, formerly of the Waterkeeper Alliance.

It’s worth a listen.