An iconic frog is the center of the latest battle between environmentalists and land developers. The California red-legged frog was made famous by Mark Twain one hundred and forty-one years ago, in his short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog Of Calaveras County.” In it, he recounts a tall tale he heard from one Simon Wheeler in a dilapidated tavern, surrounding a frog that a compulsive bettor trained to jump, only to lose the big bet when his opponent fills his trained frog with quail shot. The story became the quintessential American “tall tale,” making the frog a symbol of America’s past. Which the frog itself may soon become a part of.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced in April that only 11% of the proposed acreage will be protected as critical frog turf. This is thanks to the efforts of litigious developers and their ringleader, the environment’s Public Enemy Number One: Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA.) Pombo is a proponent of “property rights,” which refers to the rights of property to be deforested, dug up, paved over with asphalt and covered with an Applebee’s. While Pombo has made it clear that he thinks the survival of endangered species should not be favored over the goals of developers, most people feel he went a bit far when he hired that black-leather-clad assassin from The Muppet Movie with the gun that shoots forks. Pombo introduced him on Main Street in Calaveras County, where red-legged frogs cowered while Pombo triumphantly asked the man, “What do you do?” and he shot a fork into a wooden cutout of Kermit and said, “Kill frogs.”
So what happens if we lose this icon of American history? Well, you have to look no further than Calaveras County itself to be reminded of America’s visionary resourcefulness when it comes to reinventing its past. The county is home to a planned development called the Copperopolis Town Square that comes with a rich faux history:
A Los Angeles developer, whose vast holdings include a Hawaiian island and a posh Copperopolis golf resort, is creating the Copperopolis Town Square project as a self-contained village that has "evolved" from the 1880s - complete with crooked walls, cracked plaster exteriors and a medley of architectural styles.
Let this be an inspiration for our country’s historians – perhaps the tall tale with the frog would have a little more lasting relevance if, instead of focusing on a finicky species that might go jumping off into extinction, Twain had chosen a more permanent symbol of the American spirit like the condominium. The yarn Wheeler spins for Twain could be modified so it involves an enterprising prospector by the name of Dick Pombo, who bets all the locals that his condominium project will survive a sit-in by a group of nefarious environmentalists by jumping on top of them in the next earthquake.
Habitat or homes? Frog jumps into debate (MSNBC)
In Calaveras, development outleaps jumping frogs (Sacramento Bee)