Volunteers needed to help monitor frog and toad populations

Indiana DNR Release:

Indiana DNR is offering two workshops on Indiana's 17 frog and toad species. Attendees will learn how to identify Indiana toads and frogs by their calls and may volunteer to assist the DNR with the Indiana Amphibian Monitoring Program (INAMP), part of a national roadside driving survey.

Participants need not volunteer for the program to attend the workshop, and participants don’t have to attend the workshop to volunteer.

Workshop attendees should tell the gate or building staff member at the workshop location that they are attending the Amphibian Monitoring Workshop so they aren’t charged gate entrance fees. The workshops are held:

Feb. 16 (6 p.m. EST)
Versailles State Park
PO Box 205, 1387 E US 50
Versailles, IN 47042
(812) 689-6424

Feb. 23 (6 p.m. CST)
Angel Mounds State Historic Site
8215 Pollack Ave
Evansville, IN 47715
(812) 853-3956

Those who volunteer will select an available roadside driving route with 10 listening stops. The volunteer will survey the route three times per year from late February through June.

Surveys are conducted at night, usually after rainy days, when frogs and toads give their breeding calls. Each survey takes approximately 90 minutes to complete, plus travel time to and from the route location. At each of the 10 stops, the volunteer listens for five minutes, recording what species are heard and some environmental data. Information collected will help DNR biologists better understand the distribution and abundance of amphibians in Indiana.

Anyone is welcome to attend, but must be 18 or older to participate in the monitoring program. Registration is not required. Internet access and e-mail is required to participate in the program. Attendees should bring pen and paper. For more information, visit http://www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild/5455.htm.

The Indiana Amphibian Monitoring Program is part of the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) of the U.S. Geological Survey. For more information on NAAMP, see http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/.

This program is funded by donations to the Endangered Wildlife Fund on the Indiana tax form. Look for the eagle and donate all or a portion of your state tax refund to keep frogs and toads hopping in Indiana.