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This work truly represents an effort from the community of United States herpetologists, and I thank each and every one of the 215 contributors to this volume for their efforts, for working with me, and for sharing my views on the necessity and urgency of this effort. I am humbled. I also thank a subset of these workers, my Advisory Board, for the guidance and perspective they have offered. Thanks also to Norm Scott, Ronn Altig, and Erin E. Clark for their constructive comments on an earlier draft and to Floyd Scott for tracking down citations. Many other herpetologists have assisted, including Kraig Adler, James Andrews, Tom Anton, Richard Baker, Val Beasley, Robert Bezy, Sean Bloomquist, James Bogart, Alvin Breisch, Janalee Caldwell, Cynthia Carey, Isaac Chellman, James Collins, Joseph Collins, Jeffrey Davis, Phillip deMaynadier, Katie Distler, James Dixon, Sara E. Faust, John Ferner, Suzanne Fowle, Lindsay D. Funk, Alisa Gallant, Carl Gerhardt, Harry Green, Dave Golden, Robert H. Goodman Jr., Tim Halliday, Dan Helsel, Laura Herbeck, Richard Highton, Julia Holloway, David Hoppe, Arthur C. Hulse, Erin Hyde, John Iverson, Robert Jaeger, Tom R. Johnson, John Jones, Robin E. Jung, Daryl Karns, Robert Klaver, Jon Klingel, Ted Koch, Ken Lang, William Leonard, Lauren J. Livo, Timothy Maret, Bryce A. Maxell, Kelly McAllister, Roy McDiarmid, Sherman A. Minton, David J. Morafka, John Moriarty, Stephen Morreale, David Morris, Michael Mossman, Robert W. Murphy, David Naugle, Holly Niederriter, George Oliver, Deanna Olson, Stanley Orchard, Joseph H.K. Pechmann , Stephen A. Perrill, Charles Peterson, James Petranka, Tom Pluto, Andrew H. Price, John O. Reiss, Alan Resetar, Alan Savitzky, Greg Schneider, A. Floyd Scott, Stan Sessions, Doug Siegel, Melody Stoneham, Bruce Taubert, Howard Whiteman, Jill A. Wicknick, David Withers, and Richard Wassersug. I thank Jim Petranka for his fine book, and the organizers and the numerous contributors of the Catalogue of American Amphibians and Reptiles—you have made a portion of our job much easier. This project has been supported by funding provided by the following agencies or organizations: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; Disney Wildlife Conservation Fund; Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC); USGS National Mapping Division; USGS EROS Data Center; Office of the Provost (Warren Vander Hill) and Faculty Publications Committee (Ione DeOllos), Ball State University; Office of Academic Research and Sponsored Programs ( James Pyle, Kristi Koriath), Ball State University; Virginia Herpetological Society; City of Elkhart (Indiana) Environmental Science Center; and Linn County (Iowa) Environmental Council. I am grateful. I am also grateful for the following technical support I have received from the staff at Ball State University: Contracts and Grants Office (Sharon Armbrust, Sharon Harris) and Library Services ( Jan Vance). The research in this volume was supported by an array of federal (e.g., The National Science Foundation and the USGS’s Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative), state, and private organizations. The authors acknowledge and are grateful for this support. Similarly, the authors acknowledge and thank the many people that contributed their unpublished observations , local knowledge, and critical comments. This project could not have been done without the talents and dedication of my team: Priya Nanjappa, Laura Blackburn, Laura Guderyahn, Donna Helfst, Molly Schaller, Jason Hall, Marti Tiedeman, Chris Lawhorn, and Susan Johnson Lannoo. Thanks to you all. And finally, a special thanks to Dick and Debby Baker, Gary Casper, Bob Cruden, Bill Cummings, Joe Eastman, Alisa Gallant, Ken Lang, Susie Lannoo, Barb Mendenhall, Hank Miguel, Ole Oldefest, Jane Shuttleworth, Bill Souder, Dan Sutherland , Arnold van der Valk, and Judy and Mark Wehrspann—each a biologist in their own way. They have learned, independent of each other, that the necessity to live life is at least as important as the drive to study life; and that’s why we are friends. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IX ...

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