Frog Fest promotes environmental education, as natural habitats and federal funding shrink

WPSU | By Sydney Roach

Published June 2, 2026 at 11:23 AM EDT

Alissa Pendorf (left) shows off an Eastern Gray Treefrog to a family at Frog Fest. The frog is on top of the branch on the left side of the box. There's another frog in the box hiding under the foliage.

On Saturday in Centre County's Spring Mills, hundreds of people came out to Frog Fest on a warm, sunny day. It's an annual event held at a Muddy Paws Marsh, where families can learn more about frogs and their habitats through educational tables and activities, including scavenger hunts, frog jumping and natural journaling.

At one table, children and adults gathered around a small glass enclosure. Alissa Pendorf, the founder of Discovery by Nature, pointed to a frog at the top of a small branch poking out through a bed of leaves.

“Moss is hanging right up here, and he is an Eastern Gray Treefrog, and he is one of the one of the species of frog that we have right here in the state of Pennsylvania," Pendorf said.

Moss is an Eastern Gray Treefrog that was on display at Saturday's Frog Fest event. Alissa Pendorf, the founder of “Discovery by Nature,” an environmental education organization based in State College, said she can tell Moss is a male because of his darker throat, smaller size compared to females, and the fact that he calls. Pendorf said females do not call.

Pendorf explained Eastern Gray Treefrogs are very common in Pennsylvania, but hard to see because of their camouflage. She said it’s easier to find the frogs by sound and imitated their trill-like call, to the delight of the children gathered around her.

Event organizers at Frog Fest say they hope to inspire people to take an interest in environmental conservation work, especially as the federal government cuts back on conservation programs.

Muddy Paws Marsh is a 30-acre restored wetland on the bank of Penns Creek in Spring Mills.

According to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the state has lost about 60% of its wetlands since pre-colonial times.

A group of people stand at the end of the boardwalk at Muddy Paws Marsh. It's a restored wetland that used to be agricultural land. Less than half of Pennsylvania's wetlands remain today, according to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

"Wetlands were largely drained across the country for agriculture and for development," said Nell Hanssen, the board president of the Penns Valley Conservation Association, another organization that was at Frog Fest.

Even though there weren't many real frogs to look at or listen to because of their more nocturnal nature, there were many educational tables and activities set up throughout the area.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was set up at one of those tables. Workers advertised their current conservation projects in the region and ways people can help preserve wildlife in their own backyards.

"It's a bat box. Bats are in trouble," said Lyle Sherwood, as he pointed to a black-painted wooden box.

White-nose syndrome is a fungal disease with a high mortality rate in North America. The white fungus can show on an infected bat's nose and wings.

Sherwood said bats are dying in droves in Pennsylvania and North America because of white-nose syndrome, an invasive fungus brought over from Europe sometime around the year 2006. The fungus grows in warm air caves. Sherwood said bat boxes are one way to combat the disease.

“These are available from the Game Commission," Sherwood said. "If we find a place that has bats and the owner is receptive, we’ll put up a bat box.”

Sherwood said his office in State College is working on several other projects across the region, including stream and wetland restoration and pollinator plots. But, Sherwood said this kind of work is becoming harder to do because of recent federal layoffs and buyouts at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

“We’re a reduced workforce," Sherwood said. "We had six people retire. They decided to take the early out because of the reduction of resources.”

This table at Frog Fest demonstrates how far certain frogs can jump. White marks on the grass are meant to encourage children to try jumping as far as those frogs.

Greg Williams owns Muddy Paws Marsh with his wife Mary Kay. He said they’ve held many educational events there for local schools and Penn State students over the years.

“We now have students that have gone through the environmental education courses at Penn State or other universities, and they come back here and say, ‘This is where I got my inspiration to go into environmental education or environmental engineering,’” Williams said.

Williams said he’s proud to see his marsh have a long-term impact on people. He also said turnout at Frog Fest grows each year. He said they filled the parking lot at the last event.

“Now this year it’s overflowing into everywhere, anywhere people can park," Williams said. "You can see the cars coming in constantly.”

This map at Frog Fest showed the activities and educational booths available at Muddy Paws Marsh.

Williams says this is the first year they’ve handed the event planning off to the Penns Valley Conservation Association. He said his family took a hiatus last year, and had to cancel Frog Fest the year before because of flooding at the marsh.

The Penns Valley Conservation Association added a food truck and tables for some new organizations, including Penn State Master Gardeners and Shaver’s Creek. Organizers said there were about 500 people at Saturday's event, which is an increase from previous years.

Organizers hope to host the event around the same time next year at the end of May.