Tuleyome's Science Corner - California Newts

Kristie Ehrhardt • April 25, 2023

Why did the newt cross the road? To find out, keep reading! I’ve seen oodles of them crossing Walker Ridge Road in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.


California newts, sometimes called orange-bellied newts are extra special because they are endemic to California, meaning they only occur here. They are found in grasslands, oak woodlands and chapparal near ponds and slow-moving creeks in California’s coastal counties, within the Coastal Range Mountains and the southern Sierra Nevada. There are two species of California newts: Coastal (Taricha torosa) and Sierra (Taricha sierrae); those occurring in the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument are the coastal species.


Adult California newts have rough, grayish-brown skin on their dorsal side and golden dark yellow to orange skin on their undersides. Although very similar to related species, California newts have lighter skin on their eyelids and under their eyes as well as a pale yellow or golden iris. Their eyes also protrude beyond their jaw line when viewed from above (like my chihuahuas). At maturity, adults range from about five to nearly eight inches long from their cute, blunt snouts to the tips of their paddle-like tails. Their skin produces a highly toxic venom called tetrodotoxin which causes death in many animals if ingested. Helpful hint: don’t snack on newts. Once they reach maturity, terrestrial adults roam but remain close to available water. Although adults may venture out after a rain, most of them find refuge for the hot, dry summer months in cooler, moist places such rock crevices, abandoned small mammal burrows or under woody debris. Reproduction begins when the adults reach around three years of age. Breeding season begins in late December and lasts roughly six to twelve weeks depending on weather conditions. Breeding adults typically migrate back to breed in the same body of water where they hatched. Some adults have been captured up to two miles away from their natal pond and then recaptured again back at the same pond to breed. Their journey back to their breeding pond may take several weeks and sometimes migrating newts are observed in large numbers. This might explain why the newt crossed the road!


Egg masses are attached to submerged vegetation or rocks and, as long as they remain just below the water surface, hatch after about fifty days. California newts begin life as aquatic larvae using gills to breath. As temperatures rise and ponded water begins to diminish, the aquatic larvae begin to transform into adults; gills are replaced by lungs and stumpy legs with webbed toes form. Interestingly, larvae do not produce tetrodotoxin and are preyed upon by a variety of animals. It is believed that nearby adults may release chemical signals that cue the larvae to take cover to avoid predation.


California newts are diurnal which means they are active during the day and night. Adults eat a variety of invertebrates including worms, insects, snails, slugs, as well as other amphibian eggs and larvae. Aquatic larvae feed on detritus, tiny aquatic invertebrates and possibly their brothers and sisters. When threatened, adult newts have quite a dramatic response; closing their eyes, extending their limbs and tails straight out and throwing their chins up. This exposes their orange underside, possibly as a warning to a predator that they are toxic. It seems to work as some newts are believed to have survived in the wild for about twenty years. Although very faint and difficult to hear, newts also make a series of sounds including clicks, squeaks and whistles. It hasn’t been determined how the sounds are produced but clicks seem to be the most commonly made sound and may be used to establish territory. Research shows that the squeaks may be a defensive sound and the whistles occur during breeding. California newts are currently a California Species of Concern as some populations have been greatly impacted by the introduction of non-native species such as mosquito fish (Gambusia spp.) and red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkia) as well as human caused impacts to their habitat.


Fun Fact: All newts are salamanders but not all salamanders are newts. Newts and salamanders do look similar at first glance and they seem to occupy similar niches making it seem difficult to tell them apart. The word “salamander” is the name of the scientific order of amphibians that have tails as adults. One difference between newts and salamanders is that newts spend most of their lives in water, hence the webbed toes and shorter, flattened tail to help them swim. Salamanders have well-developed toes and a round tail that resembles a lizard. Although they breed in water, salamanders spend the majority of their time on land.


Another Fun Fact: The common garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) and a few other species of garter snakes have developed a resistance to the toxin tetrodotoxin and successfully prey upon California newts. It’s also been documented that the amount of toxin and resistance varies by location and species.


If you would like to help protect the California Newt’s habitat, please join Tuleyome and our partners in expanding our favorite national monument.


-Kristie Ehrhardt (kehrhardt@tuleyome.org)


Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager

RECENT ARTICLES

By Bryan Pride May 9, 2025
Across the country wildfires are increasingly more catastrophic; growing larger, spreading faster and burning longer than before. Nationwide, the total acres burned rose dramatically from 2.7 million in 2023 to nearly 9 million in 2024 . California is averaging more than 7,500 wildfires annually . Not including the recent Los Angeles fires, six of the top ten most destructive fires, three of the five deadliest fires, and all of the state's nine largest fires have occurred since 2017. It is unsustainable for both California and the country to continue burning at this magnitude. This leaves us with the question: "What can be done to solve the wildfire problem?" In response to this growing crisis, lawmakers are taking action. Congress is advancing different versions of the Fix Our Forests Act ( FOFA ) in the Senate and House of Representatives. How these bills progress and the opportunities to amend, change or improve these bills are constrained by the different processes in the House and the Senate. The House of Representatives The House of Representatives version of FOFA, (H.R. 471) , was introduced by Representative Bruce Westerman (R-AR) in January 2025 with 43 bipartisan cosponsors, including several from California. With a stated goal to expedite forest management activities under NEPA. H.R. 471, it significantly reflects Executive Order 14225, "Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production" (March 1, 2025). While the legislation takes some important steps, there are also significant concerns regarding rollbacks of environmental protections and judicial review. FOFA , H.R. 471, establishes an interagency Fireshed Center overseen by the Department of the Interior and U.S. Forest Service comprised of 15 agencies, administrations, departments and bureaus to gather data, provide guidance and work with states and tribes. It sets up a process to designate “fireshed management areas” and expands projects exempt from full reviews from 3,000 – 10,000 acres. The bill heavily favors logging as a form of fire management, but also embraces prescribed burns and prioritizes reforestation and restoration projects. H.R. 471 grants numerous “categorical exclusions”, exempting areas and projects from review under the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act and National Historic Preservation Act. H.R. 471 also fast-tracks environmental review and consultation. At the same time, the Administration is significantly gutting personnel and expertise through DOGE and its budget. H.R. 471 alters the judicial process. H.R. 471 limits when a court can grant injunctive relief. What is injunctive relief? That is the ability of the court to say: “Stop doing what you are doing.” Or slow it down, or change it, while we figure this out. It is common. Removing it is unusual. H.R. 471 limits the court’s ability to order corrective actions, limits plaintiff’s ability to sue, limits the court’s ability to require additional data from an agency and allows the challenged activities to go forward while under review. H.R. 471 also decreases the statute of limitations (the time that someone has to sue) from 6 years to 120 days. Much concern was expressed over the expansion of categorical exclusions, the change in judicial review procedures and timelines and fast-tracking of proposals. However, there was no opportunity to address any of these issues. When a bill is introduced in the House of Representatives, much like in the Senate, it is assigned to a committee with subject matter expertise. Committees study bills, hold hearings and gather testimony from experts. Committees hold mark-up sessions to debate and make changes to the bill through amendments. When a House of Representatives Committee passes a bill, it sends the bill to the House Rules Committee. The House Rules committee determines the form of the bill, which amendments will be allowed, how long folks will have to speak, or not, and when the bill moves. The House Rules Committee is run by the party in power, by the majority party. The Rules Committee is heavily tilted to favor the majority party, giving it full control over the floor of the House or Representatives. The Rules Committee has nine members of the majority party, Republicans, and 4 members of the minority party, Democrats. There is no comparable Committee in the Senate. No committee hearings or mark-ups were held on H.R. 471. Only three amendments and only one hour of debate were allowed. In the House of Representatives, a simple majority vote is necessary for bill passage. In January 2025, the H.R. 471 passed the House of Representatives on a vote of 279-141 without a hearing or mark-up and with scant debate. In the Senate Now, attention has turned to the Senate, where Senators Curtis (R-UT), Hickenlooper (D-CO), Sheehy (R-MT) and Padilla’s (D-CA) version of FOFA , S. 1462 , introduced in April, is making its way through the Senate process. The bill’s stated goal is to improve forest management on BLM and USFS lands. Similar to the House of Representatives, when a bill is introduced in the Senate, it is assigned to a committee for study, hearings, expert testimony, a mark-up session and amendments. In fact, the Senate Agriculture Committee has already begun reviewing the legislation, holding a legislative hearing on S. March 6 . The next step will be a mark-up in committee, where we can expect to see robust debate. If the Committee decides to move forward with the bill, it sends it to the full Senate. If a committee does not send the bill to the Senate, the bill dies in committee. Once a bill is released from committee, the Majority Leader of the Senate is responsible for deciding when to send the legislation for a vote. There is no Rules Committee. At this stage of floor consideration and debate is when there is the most significant difference in the legislative process between the House and the Senate. During floor consideration, a senator or group of senators can exercise their right to unlimited debate through a filibuster, which can keep legislation off the floor indefinitely. Once a debate is closed through cloture, the Senate can move to a final vote on the bill, which requires a simple majority of 51 votes. A bill on the Senate floor requires only 51 votes to pass after a debate has ended, but it takes 60 votes to cut off debate through a process called "cloture." If 60 Senators vote in favor of ending the debate, it will move to a final vote. Because of the razor thin margin in the Senate – 53 Rs, 45 Ds and 2 Independents – Republicans will need Democrats to vote with them to stop debate and advance FOFA to a vote. The requirement for broader consensus often means that legislation passed by the Senate has undergone more compromise. This provides an opportunity for the minority party to shape the bill that is not present in the House of Representatives. Thus, the Senate version of FOFA, S. 1462 , represents a significant improvement over the House version. It too sets up “fireshed management areas” and calls for fireshed assessments, albeit based on different criteria than the House version. A centerpiece of S. 1462 is the establishment of Wildfire Intelligence Center staffed by wildfire experts, technical leads, and indigenous leaders and governed by a Board of 16 agencies, administrations, departments and bureaus. The legislation removes historical barriers that previously prevented foresters, fire teams, and indigenous communities from implementing these preventative practices, allowing for more proactive management across all phases of wildfire prevention, response, and recovery. These centers create opportunities for multifaceted approaches throughout the entire fire management cycle, from prevention to rapid response to restoration. The Senate version also retains more authority for environmental reviews and judicial action. While the S. 1462 retains greater environmental review under NEPA and the National Historic Preservation Act, it also rolls back ESA reviews of land management plans and other environmental reviews depending on acreage. S. 1462 too limits injunctive relief, although not as significantly as the House version. S. 1462 leaves untouched other aspects of judicial review. The Senate version of FOFA has garnered bipartisan support from leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as from California Governor Gavin Newsom, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, and CAL Fire Director and Fire Chief Joe Tyler. Next Steps for the Legislation If the Senate passes a version of FOFA that is different from the House version, which is highly likely, a conference committee will be formed with members from both the House and the Senate to reconcile the differences. After the conference committee reaches agreement on a bill, both chambers must vote again to approve the reconciled bill before it can go before the President to be signed into law. Tuleyome will continue to keep you updated on the Fix Our Forests Act s. We hope to see real-time action and solutions to improve the fire resilience of our communities and our forests and improve forest health and wildfire management. Co-Authored by Bryan Pride and Sandra Schubert
May 9, 2025
I first heard about Tuleyome when I saw an ad for its California Certified Naturalist Class. I was recently retired and looking for a way to meet others and learn more about our natural environment. I met so many motivated advocates and eager learners in the class, and some have become good friends. Tuleyome focuses on a part of California I didn't know well. After completing the course I began participating in Naturalist class field trips, K-12 school outings, events, and Silver Spur Ranch camera maintenance trips. I love to help with the Naturalist class because I know the difference it made in my life. I also like turning kids and adults on to our special corner of California and the work Tuleyome is doing to preserve it. I make small regular donations now as an extension of my support for the mission. Tuleyome’s focus on a part of Northern California that is often overlooked resonates with me. It has been championing the inland coastal range and watersheds for protection, education, and wise use for 20+ years. I also appreciate how Tuleyome works with divergent spheres of interest, inspiring collaboration instead of conflict. Those partnerships have paid off locally, with Yolo County park development and Putah and Cache Creek watershed education and volunteer events. That’s an amazing legacy!  I want Tuleyome to succeed in their mission and that means supporting stability in staff and organizational resources. I figure every little bit helps.
By Kristie Ehrhardt May 9, 2025
May 2, 2025 marked one glorious year of Federal protection for the newest addition to the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument - Molok Luyuk! Just a year ago, President Biden used the Antiquities Act to expand the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument to include the mountainous ridge that runs along the eastern edge of the monument. Protecting Molok Luyuk, formally known as Walker Ridge, means that crucial wildlife migration corridors are protected and that biodiversity is safeguarded. Preserving Molok Luyuk provides an essential link between the existing monument and other protected areas for Black Bears, Mountain Lions and Tule Elk. The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation gave the name Molok Luyuk and renaming it means returning an indigenous name to the ridge. Molok Luyuk is Patwin for “Condor Ridge” and it is located in Patwin heartland. Preserving the ridge means preserving significant ceremonial sites for the Miwok, Pomo and Wappo people as well as protecting vital, historic Tribal trading routes. The entire monument and much of the surrounding area is all part of the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation’s vast ancestral lands. Molok Luyuk is a geologically unique area that presents 60-100 million years of history all within less than 14,00 acres. Plate tectonics has given rise to extraordinary biodiversity and the area has been called “perhaps the most accessible location” to see the unique geology of the entire Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument. “A walk across Molok Luyuk is a walk through 100 million years of history.” Together with our conservation partners, Tuleyome invites you to help us celebrate this Momentous occasion by taking a trip to visit our favorite monument. The wildflowers are amazing! -Kristie Ehrhardt ( kehrhardt@tuleyome.org ) Tuleyome Land Conservation Program Manager