The Boreal Toad is a species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) in Utah. As of 2017 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that listing the Boreal Toad was not warranted. However many of Utah's populations are still declining and some are still in jeopardy of extirpation. Of specific concern is the Paunsaugunt Plateau Boreal Toad population. The Paunsaugunt Plateau population is currently considered genetically distinct, and this population has a high probability of being extirpated in the near future due to presence of and susceptibility to chytrid fungus (Bd) infection (Bd was confirmed in this area in 2001). Since 1994 UDWR has monitored and documented a reduction in the number of adults observed at breeding sites, as well as a decline in reproductive success. Between 2003 and 2015, breeding had been documented at only three sites, and fewer than five adult toads were observed annually during monitoring surveys. These monitoring efforts combined with the genetic information are evidence that Boreal Toads on the Paunsaugunt Plateau are still at risk for US Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Act listing. In 2008 a captive assurance colony was established to supplement the wild population and to aid reintroduction efforts into historic localities. Since 2008, portions of egg strands from three breeding sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau have been collected and reared at the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility in Alamosa, Colorado, and the Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery in Big Water, Utah. Additionally, four other facilities have received sibling lots of metamorph toads: Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah; the Denver Zoo in Colorado; Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska; and Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Currently, 158 toads from 14 sibling lots are being maintained. This redundancy helps secure the assurance colony population from disease outbreak or unforeseen disasters at a given institution. These zoo and aquarium partnerships provide critical husbandry and breeding expertise. However the zoos and aquariums do not have sufficient room or facilities to maintain a robust genetic broodstock. Therefore Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery is crucial to maintaining diversity and genetic representation for this effort. Wahweap currently maintains 47 toads (32% of the colony) from six lots, and has capacity to hold an additional two lots, providing opportunity for expansion. Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery also head-starts a selection of Boreal Toad tadpoles for release back into the wild as metamorph toads. Wahweap has implemented headstarting for four years (2014-2017), and current plans are to increase the number of toads released to increase effectiveness of headstarting efforts. In 2019 Denver Zoo documented the first successful captive propagation of Boreal Toad. This effort resulted in the release of more than 600 metamorph toads back into the wild in the same year. Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery implemented the methods developed in Denver to successfully breed Boreal Toads in 2020, resulting in the release of 499 tadpoles and metamorphs. The success of captive breeding efforts at these institutions demonstrate that new knowledge and methods are now available to aid in recovery of the species. The Utah Boreal Toad team has identified that the Paunsaugunt Plateau population is the highest priority for conservation actions and funding into the near future. This proposal includes tasks that support the following objective: monitor and evaluate population response to reintroductions and recent habitat restoration activities. Project efforts will be evaluated to guide further actions and continued monitoring.

Project Goal: To secure funding for monitoring reintroduced toads on the Paunsaugunt Plateau in FY2023. Objective 1) Monitor and evaluate population response to reintroduction and habitat restoration activities Task 1: Conduct Visual Encounter Surveys (VES) at current and former breeding sites on the East Fork Sevier River and Left Fork Kanab Creek Task 2: Conduct VES at sites with appropriate Boreal Toad habitat to document presence and breeding outside of designated monitoring sites Task 3: Conduct inventory surveys to define distribution and breeding of Boreal Toad on the Paunsaugunt Plateau Task 4: Evaluate Boreal Toad response to habitat restoration activities on Paunsaugunt Plateau Task 5: Obtain population estimates by using PIT tags in a capture/ recapture study Task 6: Monitor survival and dispersal of egg, tadpole, and metamorph Boreal Toads Task 7: Evaluate habitat conditions and potential for colonization

The Paunsaugunt Population of Boreal Toad is currently in a critically low population level. For this genetically unique population to survive, management actions, including those included in this proposal, are necessary. Should Boreal Toads not be reintroduced from the Assurance Colony, the wild population is likely to be extirpated soon.

Boreal Toad (Bufo boreas boreas) Conservation Plan (Hogrefe et al. 2005) The Boreal Toad Conservation Plan lists seven objectives to conserve Boreal Toad in Utah. This project proposal addresses four of these: 1) Define current distribution and status (surveys). 2) Monitor distribution, population, and habitat trends (monitoring). 5) Increase understanding of Boreal Toad ecology, life history, and threats in Utah (research). 6) Restore populations in suitable historic and potential habitat. This proposed project also addresses another objective- 3) identify and reduce threats from habitat loss and degradation- through evaluation of the response to habitat restoration activities that have been implemented. Boreal Toad (Anaxyrus boreas boreas) Captive Management Plan for the Paunsaugunt Plateau Population (Mitchell et al. 2019) The Captive Management Plan was specifically written with the goal to "ensure the long-term survival of the Paunsaugunt Plateau population of Boreal Toad by providing an assurance colony representing the unique genetic characteristics of the wild stock, and providing individuals for release to supplement or to reestablish the wild population, should it be extirpated." The plan outlines several objectives to meet this goal. Many of these are met with this proposed project. Paunsaugunt Plateau Boreal Toad Conservation Action Plan (joint plan created by Dixie National Forest and UDWR) This plan was created by Division and Forest Service Biologist to guide actions to be implemented to conserve and restore Boreal Toad habitat on the Paunsaugunt Plateau. While habitat restoration activities have been completed between 2016 and 2019, the proposed project helps evaluate the success of these actions. Utah Wildlife Action Plan (Utah Wildlife Action Plan Joint Team 2015) The goal of the Wildlife Action Plan is "to manage native wildlife species and their habitats, sufficient to prevent additional listings under the Endangered Species Act." Many of the habitat restoration actions that have been implemented were outlined in the Wildlife Action Plan, and current monitoring and evaluation of the response of the population to these actions are important for meeting this goal. Dixie National Forest Land Resource Management Plan (as amended) This plan includes Goal 17: Manage Classified Species habitat to maintain or enhance their status through direct habitat improvement and agency coordination. This proposed project would assist Dixie National Forest and UDWR to manage Boreal Toads and their habitat, and use resources in the most effective and cost efficient manner.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

These activities are conducted under authority of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources to manage wildlife populations.

Monitoring and inventory surveys will be completed by visiting previously designated localities during the reproductive season, as well as other areas with appropriate habitat. Visual Encounter Surveys will be conducted by systematically searching all available breeding habitats (lakes, ponds, beaver ponds, and streams) for eggs, tadpoles, juveniles, and adult toads. Wide marshy areas are surveyed by walking back and forth across the wetland to achieve complete coverage. All amphibian species, numbers of individuals, lifestage, sex, and snout-vent length (svl) in millimeters, are recorded. To supplement the Assurance Colony and headstart Boreal Toads, a portion of each available egg strand, containing up to 200 eggs, will be collected by hand and placed in separate eight-ounce plastic containers filled with water from the site. They will be transported in a cooler with ice to the Wahweap Warmwater Hatchery. Once at Wahweap, the egg strands will be acclimated and placed in plastic tanks with shallow water flowing through the bottom. Individual adult Boreal Toads on the Paunsaugunt Plateau will be marked with Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags. With the exception of toads found in amplexus, all toads greater than 50 mm svl are PIT tagged during surveying efforts. To tag toads, a small amount of Bactine antiseptic is sprayed over the location where the tag was to be inserted. A small area of skin alongside the dorsal line and behind the parotoid glands is pinched, and using sharp disinfected scissors, a small hole is cut through the skin perpendicular to the backbone. The tag is then inserted into the hole with a spring-loaded syringe and gently pushed out of the way of the wound. The wound is then sealed with a small drop of Vetbond surgical glue. Dorsal and ventral sides of all PIT tagged toads are photographed to compare wart and spot patterns for identification. To prevent the spread of disease, pathogens, or harmful biota between populations, boots and other equipment are disinfected between locations. All mud and debris are removed, and equipment is sprayed or rinsed in a bath of 1:100 solution of Quat 128 (a quaternary ammonia compound). The solution is then rinsed off with water or dried completely before use in another location.

This project proposal entails several aspects of monitoring the Paunsaugunt Plateau population, specifically to evaluate success of recently completed and ongoing conservation actions. These include: Monitor Boreal Toad reproduction at designated sites on Paunsaugunt Plateau Monitor survival and dispersal of egg, tadpole, and metamorph Boreal Toads to evaluate reproductive success and determine limiting factors Monitor progress at Assurance Colony institutions Monitor survival of headstarted and captive-bred metamorphs to evaluate success Monitor response of Boreal Toad to habitat restoration on the Paunsaugunt Plateau Monitor response of Boreal Toad on Monroe Mountain to aspen regeneration project All monitoring will be conducted during breeding and active seasons (late April- August) and led by UDWR, in coordination with Dixie National Forest, Fishlake National Forest, and Utah's Hogle Zoo Citizen Science Program, with assistance from Denver Zoo, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium, and Bryce Canyon National Park.

Partners for this project include Dixie National Forest, Utah's Hogle Zoo, Denver Zoo, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, and Loveland Living Planet Aquarium. Additional support is provided by the members of Utah's Boreal Toad Conservation Team, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Colorado Department of Parks and Wildife, and Bryce Canyon National Park.

The viability of the Paunsaugunt Plateau population is now dependent on conservation actions taken by UDWR and other partners. Dramatic declines in numbers of toads and breeding success indicate that this population is at risk of extirpation. Recent conservation actions, including the establishment of the Assurance Colony for the Paunsaugunt Plateau, releasing head-started and captive-bred toads, and habitat restoration activities on the Paunsaugunt Plateau may help increase and secure this population. The actions outlined in this proposal help determine the success of these efforts. The Paunsaugunt Plateau Assurance Colony was established to provide offspring for augmentation of the wild population, or for its reintroduction, should the wild population be extirpated. The Assurance Colony should be maintained until the wild population increases to the point that it is considered stable. More effort has been directed at monitoring and evaluating the Paunsaugunt Plateau population of Boreal Toads since large habitat restoration activities began in 2016. More monitoring this population is needed to evaluate the success of these efforts. After this time, managers can decide if additional monitoring is warranted. Continued baseline monitoring is necessary to evaluate the status of the population and indicate any new threats.

Not applicable.

07/01/2022

06/30/2023

2023

Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery received one lot in 2014, three lots in 2015, one lot in 2016, two lots in 2017, and one lot in 2019. The UDWR Wahweap Warmwater Hatchery currently maintains six lots of Boreal Toads, consisting of 46 toads, as part of the assurance colony, and is the only Utah institution that has raised Boreal Toads from eggs collected in the wild. In April 2023, Boreal Toads at Wahweap were again removed from hibernation and injected with hormones to stimulate breeding. Breeding was successful, and resulted in multiple eggstrands being deposited. Although diet was similar to last year (which was thought to resolve issues causing spindly-leg syndrome), the tadpoles had difficulty with metamorphosis and none survived to reintroduce to the wild.

Since 2008, portions of egg strands from three breeding sites on the Paunsaugunt Plateau have been collected and reared at the Native Aquatic Species Restoration Facility in Alamosa, Colorado, and the Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery in Big Water, Utah. Additionally, four other facilities have received sibling lots of metamorph toads: Loveland Living Planet Aquarium in Draper, Utah; the Denver Zoo in Colorado; Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska; and Utah's Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Currently, 158 toads from 14 sibling lots are being maintained. This redundancy helps secure the assurance colony population from disease outbreak or unforeseen disasters at a given institution. These zoo and aquarium partnerships provide critical husbandry and breeding expertise. However the zoos and aquariums do not have sufficient room or facilities to maintain a robust genetic broodstock. Therefore Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery is crucial to maintaining diversity and genetic representation for this effort. Wahweap currently maintains 46 toads (33% of the colony) from six lots, and has capacity to hold an additional two lots, providing opportunity for expansion. Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery also head-starts a selection of Boreal Toad tadpoles for release back into the wild as metamorph toads. Wahweap has implemented headstarting for four years (2014-2017). Although metamorphosis was unsuccessful at Wahweap in 2023, breeding was not very successful at other partner institutions either. Only toads that had been held back for a year were released to the Paunsaugunt Plateau.

Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery has been a vital part of this project and this proposal requests funding for Wahweap Warmwater Fish Hatchery to continue as a partner with the other institutions in providing continued care, maintenance, and expertise in the management of the Paunsaugunt Plateau Boreal Toad Assurance Colony. The contributions of Wahweap complement the 2005 Boreal Toad conservation Plan and decrease the need to list the species, and/or the Paunsaugunt Plateau population. The Utah Boreal Toad team has identified that the Paunsaugunt Plateau population is the highest priority for conservation actions and funding into the near future.