The Oregon spotted frog is a threatened species. A plan to help its survival is the target of a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity.

Could anyone have been surprised when the Center for Biological Diversity announced its intent to sue against the habitat conservation plan for threatened species in the Deschutes River Basin?

Sorry, that’s largely a rhetorical question. The Center for Biological Diversity always sues.

The habitat conservation plan is meant to allow irrigation operations in the region to continue without jeopardizing the existence of the Oregon spotted frog, which was listed as threatened in 2014, or federally protected steelhead and bull trout.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service approved the plan in late 2020 after a dozen years of work led by the Deschutes Basin Board of Control’s eight irrigation districts and the City of Prineville, which consulted with state and federal agencies, among others.

Despite the extensive work that led to the plan, it still comes up short in the eyes of the center.

“The center recognizes the substantial work and collaboration that went into the HCP. The center also believes that the HCP alludes to measures that could benefit the frog long-term,” the letter said. “Many critical questions remain unanswered, however, and the fate of the frog cannot be left hanging in the balance.”

More than 30 tribes, conservation groups, government agencies and others consulted on the habitat conservation plan, but the Center for Biological Diversity was not among them, said Craig Horrell, general manager of the Central Oregon Irrigation District.

“Honestly, the Center for Biological Diversity does not surprise me when they do this. This is what they do. But they are not part of a collaborative, ever,” said Horrell, who’s also president of the Deschutes Basin Board of Control.

No, the center prefers court-ordered solutions.

Other groups do the hard work to find practical solutions to protect endangered species while trying meet the needs of local stakeholders. The resulting plans often come from contentious struggles.

When the combatants emerge, the Center for Biological Diversity is there to shoot the survivors.

It has never been clear to us whether the center is a conservation group that hires lawyers, or a law firm posing as a conservation group.

Potato, potahto.