Georgia Project Part of PBS Nature Program on Frogs

The latest installment in the PBS Nature series includes Georgia gopher frogs and efforts to restore them in an otherwise troubling look at problems decimating frog populations worldwide.

“Frogs: The Thin Green Line” premieres nationally on the Public Broadcasting System at 8 p.m. April 5 (check local listings). The focus is on a fungus called chytrid, considered a major reason for the loss of an estimated one-third of amphibians today, according to producers THIRTEEN and ArgoFilms. Experts don’t know where the deadly fungus started or how to stop it.

“The Thin Green Line” also profiles other dangers: chemical contamination blamed for deformities and even sexuality changes in frogs, climate change, and habitat loss.

The segment on gopher frogs covers a project partnership between the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, Atlanta Botanical Garden, The Nature Conservancy, the University of Georgia and Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center to rear gopher frogs and release them at 1,980-acre Williams Bluffs Nature Preserve near Blakely.

Gopher frogs have lost 97 percent of their habitat in a six-state range. These stubby, nocturnal frogs that spend most of their lives in burrows are found almost exclusively in the Coastal Plain’s longleaf pine ecosystem. “When you have 3 percent of this habitat remaining and all the animals that depend on it, it’s obvious why they’re disappearing,” says John Jensen, a senior biologist with the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section.

The one-hour documentary shows Jensen and Robert Hill of Atlanta Botanical Garden releasing gopher frog metamorphs and tadpoles into a seasonal pond at Williams Bluffs. The multiyear project started in 2007. “This is what conservation is all about,” Hill says of the release.

But the threat of extinction looms large in “The Thin Green Line.” Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Allison Argo traveled from Panama to Australia and around the U.S. to detail the “greatest mass extinction of amphibians since the dinosaurs,” according to THIRTEEN. Last year, Argo called the gopher frog restoration project one of the few “positively good” stories about amphibians.

Gopher frog conservation is supported in part by sales of Georgia’s bald eagle and hummingbird license plates and donations to the Give Wildlife a Chance state income tax checkoff. Details at www.georgiawildlife.com.

Check www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/ for more about “Frogs: The Thin Green Line.”

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Georgia Gopher Frog Project Filmed For PBS Nature Series

Gopher frogs at a glance

** The species is state-listed as rare and is protected in all states within its range.

** The frogs are found almost exclusively in the longleaf pine ecosystem of the Coastal Plain.

** Adults can grow to about 4 inches long. They spend most of their time in burrows, usually those made by gopher tortoises, in dry, upland sites

** Breeding occurs at fishless, ephemeral (or temporary) and isolated wetlands in longleaf pine forests. Suitable breeding ponds regularly go dry, meaning there are no fish to prey on tadpoles. Breeding peaks in late winter, but can be triggered by heavy rains throughout fall.

** Threats to the species include destruction and changes to favored uplands and wetlands, fish stocked in breeding wetlands, draining wetlands, the decline of gopher tortoises and a lack of natural and prescribed fires.

** Gopher frogs have been found at fewer than 10 sites in Georgia.

They may not have the most photogenic mug, but Georgia’s gopher frogs are making the jump to television.

Award-winning ArgoFilms recorded the recent release of gopher frog metamorphs and tadpoles at Williams Bluffs Nature Preserve for Public Broadcasting System’s Nature series.

Filmmaker Allison Argo sees the restoration project in Early County as “one of the few ... positively good news stories" about amphibians. The one-hour documentary, tentatively scheduled for broadcast in spring, will explore the global decline of amphibians, Argo said.

The work at Williams Bluffs is a partnership involving the Georgia Wildlife Resources Division, Atlanta Botanical Garden, The Nature Conservancy and Joseph W. Jones Ecological Research Center. The goal: Establish a gopher frog population at the 1,980-acre preserve near Blakely. The project is supported by sales of Georgia’s bald eagle and hummingbird license plates and donations to the Give Wildlife a Chance state income tax checkoff.

Gopher frogs are listed as rare throughout their six-state range. They have been documented at fewer than 10 sites in Georgia. Threats to the species, found almost exclusively in the Coastal Plain’s longleaf pine ecosystem, include habitat destruction, the lack of natural and prescribed fires, fish stocked in the frogs’ breeding areas, and the decline of gopher tortoises, which dig burrows the like-named frogs also use.

With a camera running Sept. 11, biologists eased 32 metamorphs and 157 tadpoles into a shallow, seasonal pond. A similar release in August 2007 marked the start of the multiyear project and a first for the frog in this state.

But this time, a tropical storm – Fay – had swamped South Georgia, filling the ephemeral ponds where gopher frogs breed and avoiding last year’s situation where biologists had to create an artificial pond for the legged tadpoles and metamorphs, or young frogs with developed lungs and four legs that no longer need the water.

John Jensen, a senior wildlife biologist with Wildlife Resources’ Nongame Conservation Section, said within a few years the frogs might mature to the point they are returning to the pond to breed. Biologists will then search for egg masses following heavy winter rains, the peak season and weather event for breeding, and set up pitfall traps along a drift fence to catch adult frogs.

Biologists marked legged tadpoles and metamorphs by injecting a fluorescent red elastomer, or rubber, dye under the skin.

According to Argo, a Cape Cod, Mass., filmmaker whose awards include five national Emmys, the documentary will focus attention on the fragile status of amphibians. “More than anything it’s habitat loss and degradation,” Argo said. “And it’s important for the public to be aware of that.”

She said filming was done throughout the U.S and, in Panama and Australia. Read more about ArgoFilms at www.sitestories.com/argofilms/.

In Georgia, sales of the nongame wildlife license plates and the Give Wildlife a Chance income tax checkoff benefit conservation of gopher frogs and other rare species. Both programs are fundraisers for the Wildlife Resources Division’s Nongame Conservation Section, which receives no state funds for its mission to help conserve Georgia wildlife not legally hunted, fished for or trapped, as well as rare plants and natural habitats in the state.

The license plates – featuring a bald eagle or a ruby-throated hummingbird – are available for a one-time $25 fee at county tag offices, by checking the wildlife license plate box on mail-in registrations and through online renewals (http://mvd.dor.ga.gov/tags).

For the checkoff, fill in an amount more than $1 on line 26 of the long state income tax form (Form 500) or line 10 of the short form (Form 500EZ). Contributions can be deducted from refunds or added to payments.

Visit www.georgiawildlife.com for more information, or call Nongame Conservation offices in Social Circle (770-761-3035), Forsyth (478-994-1438) or Brunswick (912-264-7218).

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PBS’ “Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal” comes to Georgia State

Focusing on presidential campaign politics and vital issues such as health care, the war in Iraq and the economy, “Washington Week with Gwen Ifill and National Journal,” will broadcast before a live audience at 3:30 p.m. June 20 at Georgia State University’s Rialto Center for the Arts, 80 Forsyth St.

PBS' “Washington Week,” the longest running news and public affairs program on public television, features leading political journalists participating in roundtable discussions of major news events. As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the live broadcast is coming to Atlanta as part of a 10-city, AARP-sponsored road show tour during the 2008 campaign season.

Gwen Ifill is one of the country’s most esteemed journalists. In addition to her role at the helm of Washington Week, Ifill is also a senior correspondent for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In her 25 years in journalism, she has also worked for NBC News, The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun, covering such beats as the Congress and the White House.

A special “Washington Week Extra: Atlanta Edition,” with Gwen Ifill and her panel of journalists answering questions, also will be taped at Georgia State and aired on Georgia Public Television at 8 p.m. June 20. A webcast of both programs will be streamed on www.pbs.org/washingtonweek.

The panelists on the programs will include: Jeanne Cummings of POLITICO and formerly of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution; John Harwood of CNBC and The New York Times; Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times and Charles Babington of the Associated Press.

Free tickets are available at the Rialto box office. There is a four ticket per order limit.

For more information, visit https://tickets.rialtocenter.org/Public/show.asp or call 404-413-9849.

Note: Doors open at 2:30 p.m. for seating. If not seated by 3:15 p.m., admission is not guaranteed. Photo/Video recording by patrons is not allowed. By attending this taping, you consent to have your image recorded and used for broadcast.

Emory Mental Health Experts Featured in Documentary on Depression

In observation of May as Mental Health Month, Emory University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences faculty and other leading mental health experts from across the nation are featured in a documentary that takes an in-depth look at depressive disorders.

The documentary called Depression: Out of the Shadows aired at on May 21, on Georgia Public Broadcasting.

In this program, real people of different ages and diverse backgrounds tell stories of living with various forms of clinical depression. Distinguished experts in the field explore the causes and treatments of this widely misunderstood illness.

For reasons that range from lack of education to the stigma of depression, a large percentage of people who need help are not getting it. According to statistics from the Georgia Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases, depression is the leading cause of nearly 900 suicides each year.

Emory experts include Charles Nemeroff, MD, Ruenette W. Harris Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, who explains how depression is rooted in both genetic and environmental factors, and psychiatry professors Helen Mayberg, MD, and William McDonald, MD, who discuss treatments for patients who are resistant to medication.

For a preview of the documentary visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/takeonestep/depression/