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</span>|<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt"> </span></span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#004579">|
@Rh<span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">o</span>de<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">I</span>s<span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">l</span>an<span style="letter-spacing:.1pt">d</span><span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">D</span><span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">E</span>M</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;letter-spacing:.1pt">F</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;letter-spacing:-.05pt">O</span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">R<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">
</span>IM<span style="letter-spacing:.1pt">M</span>E<span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">D</span><span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">IAT</span>E<span style="letter-spacing:-.35pt">
</span>RELEA<span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">S</span>E:
<span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">C</span><span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">O</span>N<span style="letter-spacing:.1pt">T</span><span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">A</span><span style="letter-spacing:.05pt">C</span><span style="letter-spacing:-.05pt">T</span>:
Michael Healey, 401-258-0787<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:5.0pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Thursday, September 30, 2021
</span><a href="mailto:Michael.Healey@dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">Michael.Healey@dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">DEM PARTNERS WITH ROGER WILLIAMS PARK ZOO, URI, USFWS, AND<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">OTHERS TOWARD SPADEFOOT TOAD CONSERVATION AND RESTORATION<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Rhode Island conservation community advances mission of “Operation Spadefoot RI.”</span></i></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_4" o:spid="_x0000_s1027" type="#_x0000_t75" alt="A frog on the ground Description automatically generated with medium confidence" style='position:absolute;margin-left:201.75pt;margin-top:3.65pt;width:341.3pt;height:275.3pt;z-index:251660288;visibility:visible;mso-wrap-style:square;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-wrap-distance-left:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-top:0;mso-wrap-distance-right:9pt;mso-wrap-distance-bottom:0;mso-position-horizontal:absolute;mso-position-horizontal-relative:text;mso-position-vertical:absolute;mso-position-vertical-relative:text;mso-width-percent:0;mso-height-percent:0;mso-width-relative:page;mso-height-relative:page'>
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Description automatically generated with medium confidence" v:shapes="Picture_x0020_4"><![endif]><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">PROVIDENCE
– The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) <span class="normaltextrun">
has partnered with the Roger Williams Park Zoo, the University of Rhode Island (URI), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and other conservation organizations to study and restore populations of the state endangered Eastern Spadefoot Toad (</span><span class="spellingerror"><i>Scaphiopus</i></span><span class="normaltextrun"><i> </i></span><span class="spellingerror"><i>holbrookii</i></span><span class="normaltextrun">).
</span></span><span class="normaltextrun"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Conservationists and volunteers recently rescued around 1,000 spadefoot toad tadpoles from a breeding wetland that was at immediate risk of drying out. These tadpoles were raised
to metamorph-stage “toadlets” under the care of Lou Perrotti, Director of Conservation at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. After being screened for disease, the tiny metamorphs were released at three sites in Washington County that have been targeted for spadefoot
toad restoration. <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Two of the release sites are home to artificially constructed wetlands, designed with spadefoot toads in mind. The artificial wetlands were built in 2019 and 2021 on protected
lands with appropriate soil, habitat types, and in proximity to historic populations of spadefoot toads. These wetlands also benefit a host of other wildlife species and additional sites are slated for future construction. The project, which has been dubbed
“Operation Spadefoot RI,” involves numerous conservation agencies and organizations. </span></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">The effort brings together expertise and resources from DEM, Roger Williams Park Zoo, URI, USFWS, the Rhode Island Natural History Survey, the Richmond Rural Preservation Land
Trust, and the South Kingstown Land Trust, along with the help of over 80 volunteers who spent a combined 340 hours assisting with the construction of the newest wetland. The Nature Conservancy and the Natural Resources Conservation Service have lent support
to the project as well. </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">“It’s great to see proactive rare species conservation taking place in Rhode Island,” said Perrotti. “The spadefoot toad is definitely a species in need of some help and the involvement
of so many conservation partners within the state is inspiring.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Spadefoot toads are the only state endangered amphibian in Rhode Island, where only a handful of populations are known to biologists. The species requires specialized, highly ephemeral wetlands for
breeding, much of which has been lost or degraded due to agriculture and human development.</span></span><span class="eop"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="normaltextrun"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">“Because they have such specific habitat requirements for survival and reproduction, they are extremely vulnerable,” said Scott Buchanan, biologist with DEM’s Division of Fish
and Wildlife. </span></span><span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">“By not only protecting lands and managing habitats, but by directly supporting populations, we have the opportunity to both increase the number of populations
on the Rhode Island landscape, and to increase the chances that introduced and existing populations will persist well into the future.”</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Along with restoration efforts, DEM’s Division of Fish and Wildlife has conducted statewide surveys for spadefoot toads during the 2020 and 2021 field seasons. The nighttime surveys, which
rely on headlamps to detect toad eye-shine, have proved effective in identifying new populations and learning more about them.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:.5in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">“We want more than dots on a map,” said Buchanan. “To carry out informed and effective conservation, we need to know the geographic extent of populations, how large the populations are,
where the breeding wetlands are, and how the toads are using local habitat features.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">The surveys help to generate information that leads to greater insight on all this and more. Reports from members of the public have been particularly helpful in providing leads for sites
to survey, according to Buchanan. In the event that one encounters a spadefoot toad in the state, the public is encouraged to photograph the animal and send the photograph to the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife by emailing
</span></span><a href="mailto:DEM.DFW@dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">DEM.DFW@dem.ri.gov</span></a><span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span class="eop"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">Follow the Division of Fish and Wildlife on
</span><a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.facebook.com/RIFishwildlife/__;!!KKphUJtCzQ!fm7sDYxD_H3F8896-jDRJ7wH4E4SxOKGOKTpl81Uk6QvnThvrHuIH_lV9DRqAWbb6lg-9US6$"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">Facebook</span> [facebook.com]</a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"> and Instagram (@RI.FishandWildlife) for timely updates. For
more information about DEM divisions and programs, visit </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">, follow us on
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<p class="paragraph" style="margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri Light",sans-serif">###<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">Michael J. Healey | Chief Public Affairs Officer</span></b><b><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#1F4E79"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management</span><span style="color:#212121"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">235 Promenade Street, Providence RI 02908</span><span style="color:#212121"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">401-222-4700, X277-7273</span><span style="color:#212121"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">Email: </span><a href="mailto:michael.healey@dem.ri.gov"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">michael.healey@dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="color:#212121"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#212121">Web: </span><a href="http://www.dem.ri.gov/"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0066FF">www.dem.ri.gov</span></a><span style="color:#212121"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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