Portland Volunteers Save 3,700 Frogs From Highway Deaths

Every winter night between December and March, volunteers in reflective vests marked "FROGS" gather along Portland's Highway 30 with a singular mission: save palm-sized amphibians from becoming roadkill.

The northern red-legged frog, protected under Oregon law, faces a dangerous journey twice each winter. These reclusive creatures must hop up to three miles from their forest homes to seasonal wetlands along the Willamette River to breed, then make the return trip after laying eggs.

The problem? Four lanes of high-speed traffic stand between them and survival.

Rob Lee discovered just how deadly this crossing was in January 2013. After helping navigate a frenzy of frogs on his quiet residential street one evening, he counted 60 carcasses the next morning. On the busy highway below, he suspected they were getting obliterated.

Lee contacted Oregon's Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Harborton Frog Shuttle was born. What started as one man and a state biologist has grown into a community tradition so popular there's sometimes a waitlist to volunteer.

In 2024 alone, about 100 volunteers shuttled 1,700 frogs downhill to breed and nearly 2,000 back up again. They gather at dusk in rain and warmth, holding buckets lined with wet leaves, gently catching the squirming creatures frozen in headlamp beams.

"This time of year can be so gloomy," volunteer Patricia Wolf said, "but when you're out here, you're battling it with goodness."

The Ripple Effect

The volunteer effort appears to be working. Egg counts in the wetlands below show an upward trend since 2019, though restoration work may also play a role. State biologist Susan Barnes believes anything that helps frogs survive and hatch young benefits one of Oregon's largest remaining populations of this species.

But the volunteers know they can't catch every frog. Some suspect veteran females, which can live 15 years, have learned to evade their helpers and cross elsewhere.

That's why a dozen partner organizations are working toward a permanent solution: a box culvert under the highway and a concrete barrier to funnel frogs safely through it. The Oregon Wildlife Foundation is raising $550,000 for engineering, with construction estimated at $4 million.

The biggest challenge isn't the frogs but state budget constraints. The transportation agency, facing a $242 million shortfall, has no mandate to protect wildlife. Advocacy groups are now lobbying lawmakers to prioritize conservation funding.

Until then, the volunteers will keep showing up on rainy winter nights, one bucket of frogs at a time.