due to the decreased size of the aquatic area 

 available for breeding and larval development. 

 CALTRANS and the California Department of 

 Fish and Game are now making the Valencia 

 site into essential habitat for the salamander, 

 including restoration of the original vegetation 

 and manipulation of the water level to increase 

 the area of standing water. 



Santa Cruz County has adopted several 

 residential regulations designed to minimize the 

 impact of housing near Valencia Lagoon. The 

 California Coastal Commission, in coordination 

 with the state Department of Fish and Game 

 (DFG) has established guidelines for development 

 near Valencia Lagoon. A DFG habitat acquisition 

 program is underway at Valencia and the Nature 

 Conservancy is helping with the effort. 



Areas at Ellicott (12 ha) and Valencia (1.1 

 ha) were purchased in 1973 and are now Ecolog- 

 ical Reserves administrated by the California De- 

 partment of Fish and Game. At Ellicott, the U.S. 

 Fish and Wildlife Service purchased 47 ha of 

 habitat in 1975-76, principjilly terrestrial areas 

 used by the adults for retreats during most of the 

 year. The upland habitat had been severely dis- 

 rupted by off -road vehicle use, which removed 

 hillside vegetation and resulted in erosion. Vehi- 

 cular travel has been significantly reduced in the 

 terrestrial habitat by patrols, and posting no- 

 trespassing signs. Erosion-control techniques are 

 being employed to restore the vegetation. The 

 reserve area was fenced in 1975-76. 



There are continuing efforts to protect the 

 salamander. In 1978, the U.S. Fish and Wildhfe 

 Service proposed Critical Habitat designations for 

 the areas used by the salamander at Ellicott and 

 Valencia. Needed biological studies on the sala- 

 mander are being conducted through the coopera- 

 tive efforts of the California Department of Fish 

 and Game the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

 From 1973 to 1978, four additional localities 

 where some salamanders live were discovered, but 

 the status of these populations is not well known. 



Potential threats to the recently discovered 

 populations at Seascape and near Elkhorn Slough 

 are being evaluated and, if proven serious, may 

 warrant protective measures. 



AUTHORITIES 



Elden H. Vestal 



California Dept. of Fish and Game 



P.O. Box 47 



Yountville, California 94599 



John M. Erode, Acting Leader 

 Santa Cruz Long-Toed Salamander 



Recovery Team 

 California Dept. of Fish and Game 

 1701 Nimbus Road 

 Rancho Cordova, California 95670 



Kristine Tollestrup 

 Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 

 University of California 

 Berkeley, California 94720 



Richard Sage 



Museum of Vertebrate Zoology 

 University of California 

 Berkeley, California 94720 



PREPARER'S COMMENTS 



There have been significant efforts to save the 

 Santa Cruz long-toed salamander from extinction. 

 It was one of the first animals to be included on 

 the Endangered Species List (1967). Thousands 

 of hours of volunteer and professional help pre- 

 vented the possible extinction of this life form. 

 Present interagency cooperation is assisting in the 

 recovery of this salamander and its associated 

 habitat. 



Further biological studies are needed to assess 

 population trends at the Ellicott localities, and to 

 determine the status of recently discovered popu- 

 lations near Elkhorn Slough. 



LITERATURE CITED/ SELECTED 

 REFERENCES 



Anderson, J. D. 1960. A comparative study of 

 coastal and montane populations of Amby- 

 stoma macrodactylum. Ph.D. thesis, Univ of 

 Calif., Berkeley. 



. 1961. The courtship behavior oi Amby- 



stoma macrodactylum croceum. Copeia 1961 

 (2): 132-139. 



. 1967. A comparison of the life histories 



of coastal and montane populations oi Amby- 

 stoma macrodactylum in California. Am. 

 Midi. Nat. 77(2):323-355. 



. 1968. A comparison of the food habits 



