Bill fails to designate giant salamander as state amphibian
An Idaho giant salamander stared at the members of the House State of Affairs Committee through a glass aquarium Jan. 19 in the Idaho Capitol, awaiting the fate of whether its species would represent Idaho for years to come. This committee meeting however, would not be a favorable outcome for the salamander.
Behind the creature, Boise 8th-grader Ilah Hickman testified on behalf of House Bill 1, a bill authored by Hickman to elevate the Idaho giant salamander to the status of state amphibian.
“Students all over Idaho are interested in this state symbol,” Hickman said.
Hickman said the amphibian is found almost exclusively in Idaho, has scientific medical research potential due to its ability to regenerate lost limbs and the creature could underscore the importance of the Invasive Species Act, as zebra mussels negatively affect its habitat.
However, the committee voted to kill H.B. 1 with a 10-6 vote.
Prior to vote, Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, stated her opposition to elevating the salamander as a symbol because the action could lead to the animal becoming protected.
“As a North Idaho legislator, I keep remembering the devastation to jobs and industry by the very friendly spotted owl,” Sims said, referring to a species declared endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service.
The protection of the spotted owl led to its habitat also being protected, and this protection limits certain areas timber companies can cut into, she said.
However, the attorney general submitted a letter to the committee prior to the meeting, stating the designation of the Idaho giant salamander would provide no legal basis for imposing an increased level of protection for the salamander or its habitat, both under federal and state law.
Despite this, some legislators were concerned the state symbol status could still serve to protect the salamander down the road.
“When it says there is no legal basis for imposing further restrictions, there is also no legal impediment for doing that as well,” Sims said. “How many of these animals have later been declared protected by the federal or state government?”
Idaho has 16 state symbols, including the Syringa flower, the potato, the Monarch Butterfly and the huckleberry. None of the designations as state symbols have led to protections or endangered listings for any of the animals or plants being symbolized.
Rep. Vito Barbieri, R-Dalton Gardens, also stated his concern for public access to Idaho resources and voted to kill the bill.
“We’ve got dredging issues, people dredging for gold, dredging for things in the rivers, a court could use this protected status to keep people from being able to use streams for other benefits,” Barbieri said. “Anything that could be used that would prohibit others from removing these resources we have to look at a little more conservatively.”
Rep. Bateman, who suggested moving the bill to the floor with a do-pass recommendation, said he strongly endorsed the bill, partly from his experience visiting a class of elementary school students who were curious about Idaho’s state symbols.
“The Idaho giant salamander, that reaches 13 inches in length, is a big deal to a 4th grader, it stimulates their imagination,” Bateman said.
Testimonies in support of the bill came from one of the founders of the Idaho Herpetological Society Frank Lundberg, as well as from the Biology department chair at Northwest Nazarene University John Cossel and a fourth-grade teacher.
Rep. Patrick McDonald, R-Boise, supported the bill and said the medical research potential from studying the salamander could be spurred in Idaho after its adoption as a state symbol.
“This will have no fiscal impact on the state of Idaho, this will not create any complications with regard to legal protections … the legislation itself is very simple,” McDonald said.
Rep. Ken Andrus, R-Lava Hot Springs, said his aversion to designating the salamander as a state symbol stemmed from a childhood dislike of the creature.
“When I was a young boy growing up (in Utah), in our swimming hole there were salamanders,” Andrus said. “We called them ‘Water Dogs,’ and I learned to despise them. To me and my fellow youth, they were ugly, they were slimy and creepy and I have not gotten over that. To elevate them to a state symbol … I’m not there yet.”
According to Hickman, this is the fifth year she pushed legislators to adopt the salamander as the state amphibian, and the third year she visited the Capitol to testify in person.
“I’m disappointed, but I’m going to come back next year and keep pushing until it passes,” Hickman said.
George Wood Jr. can be reached at [email protected]