Petaluma newts make national news

Newts might be tiny but they were big news in the Big Apple when New York Times journalist Annie Roth and photographer Ian C. Bates published an online article on Jan. 24. It was headlined, “A ‘Big Night’ for Newts, and for a California Newt Brigade,” with the deck headline, “Salamanders get a little help across the road from some two-legged friends in Northern California.” In print, the headline was “In the California Night, Ferrying Amphibians to Safety.”

The story described the efforts of Petaluma’s Chileno Valley Newt Brigade, founded by local rancher Sally Gale to protect local newts as they attempt to cross Chileno Valley Road on their annual migration to or from Laguna Lake. The efforts of the Newt Brigade have been covered often in the Argus-Courier, which ran a story by news reporter Amelia Parreira last January, and another by columnist Lina Hoshino in September.

The New York Times article described how the recent rains have created ideal circumstances for the breeding of newts, and gave a colorful chronicle of one night in December when a team of newt-loving folks donned jackets, brought buckets and flashlights, and assisted a total of 452 newts on their journey across the road, while collecting and disposing 54 dead newts who were not so lucky. Gale estimates that 1,300 newts have met the same messy demise so far this year, while the Newt Brigade has been able to safely escort almost 6,000 newts from one side of the road to the other.

At the time this item was written up, nearly 100 comments had been left on the New York Times’ website, almost universally praising Gale and the Brigade for their efforts. For information on joining the Chileno Valley Newt Brigade, or contributing to its efforts, visit ChilenoValleyNewtBrigade.org.