On April 23rd it was signed into state legislature
that the Pennsylvania state amphibian would be the Eastern Hellbender. This nomination was heavily supported by a
local Pennsylvania high school environmental group and other herpetology enthusiasts. The Pennsylvania state senator
states that “it is an ugly creature that serves a beautiful purpose.” He recognizes that
this signifies a new push for cleaner water for all that reside along the
waterways, human and animal alike. The
author states that this species is an excellent indicator species for the water
condition and states that the hellbenders have been nearly erased from the
lower ranges of the Appalachians due to human pollution of the waterways. He notes that it is hopeful that the states recognition of this species paves the way for increased
conservation efforts for all aquatic life.
This article offers hope on the conservation front within
the US. More and more articles like this
are popping up, almost as a call to action to all its readers. This article
seemed to be intended for most ages from high schoolers and above. They mentioned the large support group coming
from a high school group which is amazing and may give hope to the impact that
even young readers can have during this time. It was also very nice to see that the state senator
was also in support and this change and the conservation efforts this change
sheds light on. It is too often that we
see conservation efforts meeting tough opposition when it reaches the government.
With conservation efforts gaining more and more legislative ground, this small
victory in just one more step to a better protected natural world!
Check out the article at: https://www.bayjournal.com/article/easter_hellbender_named_pennsylvania_state_amphibian
2 comments:
It is really cool to hear that this is happening in Pennsylvania. The decision they made to choose the Hell bender as the state's amphibian is very interesting, especially when this was from a result of a high school group in the ear of its senator. Do you think every state should follow in Pennsylvania's footsteps? Does giving various titles to an animal make the push for legislature in protecting them that much easier?
What a great way to raise awareness about the importance of hellbenders as an indicator species! I hope that this will spur more local pride in this amazing species as well as water quality!
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