Bastrop, Tx–A new proposal aimed at boosting the current population of the endangered Houston toad in the Bastrop area will be unveiled Tuesday when county commissioners meet at 9 a.m. in the Courthouse Annex.
The regular meeting was postponed until May 26 because of the Memorial Day holliday on Monday.
Details of the effort were not available ahead of the session, but the posted agenda indicates commissioners will be asked to sign off on a cooperation agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service aimed at creating new toad populations and increasing the numbers of existing groups on private property.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act. The Houston toad was among the first species to be protected under the law in the early 1970s. The largest known populations of the small, reclusive amphibians survive in the Lost Pines region of Bastrop County, mostly to the east and north of Bastrop.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has given the county approval to administer a habitat conservation plan aimed at protecting the toad. Local plan administrator Roxanne Hernandez will present the cooperation agreement to commissioners Tuesday.