State to halt most deformed frog research  

Budget constraints cited Pollution agency cites constraints in budget 

AP 22jan01

Missing right hind leg source: http://www.pca.state.mn.us/hot/closeup.html

MINNESOTA -- The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will drop most of its research into deformed frogs, which have been found throughout the state in the past five years.

Agency officials said the program needs to be cut back because of budget constraints at the MPCA, and that other problems such as toxic air-pollutants and feedlot rules have a higher priority.

Criticism of the MPCA came at a meeting in Mounds View organized by the U.S. Geological Survey to bring together scientists from universities and government agencies who have been studying malformed frogs, along with the water and sediment from Minnesota ponds in which they were found.

``The MPCA's obligation to the taxpayers isn't complete until they've identified all the hot spots (of frog deformities) in the state and their causes,'' said Dr. Michael Lannoo, a biologist at the Indiana University Medical School who studies declining frog populations. He said researchers across the country have looked to Minnesota for data, samples and expertise.

Perry Jones, a geological survey hydrologist who is studying chemicals in and near frog ponds in Minnesota, said it was a shame for the MPCA to withdraw its support.

``We're at a critical point, and all of the different scientists are starting to collaborate a lot more,'' Jones said. ``We can't have this kind of breakdown.''

The MPCA has spent about $1.5 million on research since schoolchildren first discovered deformed frogs near Henderson in southern Minnesota in 1995.

The agency assigned or hired as many as five workers to collect and analyze data from nearly 200 sites, and came up with a handful of hot spots that have been studied more intensively since 1998.

The agency also provided samples for research projects around the country, and small grants to collaborators, several of whom matched the grants with funds from their own research budgets. Parasites, pesticides and ultraviolet radiation are among the suspected causes of the deformities.

The MPCA has received $300,000 from the Legislature for each of the past two years to continue the work. Greg Gross, supervisor of the MPCA's biological monitoring unit, said the agency will not ask for those funds again during the next biennium session, in keeping with Gov. Jesse Ventura's directive to state agencies to practice ``fiscal responsibility.''

Gross said that the MPCA decided last summer to zero-out the budget for frogs, but managers reconsidered the decision two months ago and have now proposed to include one full-time position to work on the state program and one half-time position to collect soil and water samples during the summer.

Parasites, pesticides and ultraviolet radiation are among the suspected causes of the deformities.

• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Live Deformed Frog Cam

Contact: Dr. Michael Lannoo, PhD, Muncie Center for Medical Education mlannoo@gw.bsu.edu