This species inhabits forests, woodlands, grasslands, open valleys, and ranch land. It can be found on land (in open or under rocks, logs, etc.) or in ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and slow-moving streams. It breeds in ponds, lakes, reservoirs, and slow-moving streams. Females deposit eggs singly on aquatic plants or submerged twigs (Behler and King 1979). It seems able to cope with at least a degree of habitat modification.

This species occurs on the Pacific coast of North America in Canada and the United States of America from southeastern Alaska to Santa Cruz County in California (Petranka 1998, Stebbins 2003). Records from the Rocky Mountains, including subpopulations in Latah County, Idaho, and Sanders, Montana, could represent introductions, though Monello and Wright (1997) recorded three small subpopulations in Latah County in 1997. It occurs at elevations between sea level and about 2,800 m asl (Stebbins 2003).

Conservation Actions
This species is present in several protected areas throughout its range.

Conservation Needed
Undeveloped buffers should be maintained around breeding sites.