Like many other freshwater wildlife species, amphibians have faced steep declines throughout California. Climate-fueled disasters are only increasing the stress on these creatures. As we saw after the recent Palisades fire, species rescue is becoming increasingly necessary. Fortunately, a team of agencies and a local university were able to rescue hundreds of endangered Tidewater Goby from a Malibu lagoon to protect them from toxic debris flows generated from the fire. Emergency actions like this are truly important—but they should be an action of last resort. One of the best ways to improve a species’ chance of survival is, quite simply, to make sure that they don’t become too isolated.