Recently, a push by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation PA Student Leadership Council to make the Eastern Hellbender PA's state amphibian has seen good beginning success. Having written the legislation, the council was able to get PA State Senator Gene Yaw, a Republican representing PA District 23, to sponsor the bill. The bill was introduced by Senator Yaw on May 2, 2017 and had its first consideration June 14, 2017, as well as the addition of multiple co-sponsors. The Hellbender can reach sizes up to 29 1/8 inches long, making it Pennsylvania's largest amphibian. Unfortunately, the behemoth is usually quoted as being "near threatened," and few know many details about the harmless creature. Among PA citizens, especially anglers, the Hellbender gets a bad rap, one example is the fact that it is often called the snot otter. Some common misconceptions about the Hellbender are that it is unlucky for fishing, kills off fish populations, and is vicious. This is not true as the Hellbender is docile and is mostly nocturnal. Bad water quality and pollution have contributed to the Hellbender population decrease, and the fact that in the past fishermen who caught the large amphibian would simply kill it, only making the issue worse. The new bill looks to rectify that by building awareness of the Eastern Hellbender as a gentle species, and increase conservation efforts. The Eastern Hellbender ranges from New York to northern Georgia, and can be found as far westward as Missouri. If the bill passes the Hellbender will get some well needed conservation attention, and hopefully make a quick population recovery. What do you think of PA's possible new state symbol?
Thanks for sharing, this is really interesting! I find it unfortunate that such a harmless animal has been given a dangerous seeming name-its other names, such as "devil dogs", don't seem to be much better. I'm from Illinois, and our state amphibian is the tiger salamander which is known for carrying and transmitting certain viruses and diseases to fish. The fact that the hellbenders' numbers are rapidly decreasing leads me to believe that if the hellbender became a new symbol of PA (a bill that would be free to pass), their cause would garner more awareness, and they could potentially be deemed as a federally protected species next year.
That's the main reason for the bill, which means its passing is more important than it may seem to some. Unfortunately, PFBC funds limit the amount of animals they can work to conserve, which usually includes important species and endagnered/threatened species. By being put through the state congressional system it will gain awareness with state politicians and people who read updates in the news. It's just what the species needs, in my opinion. The same organization is also helpig build shelters for the Hellbenders to do their part in directly helping the population. I think that their efforts will definitely cause a population increase.
I really hope so as well. General awareness among the PA community-as well as throughout the US-could aid in their efforts. Has the council organized a petition as of yet? Does the PFBC need more research to be conducted on hellbender populations before making a decision? Do you know which animal species they're currently working on preserving?
I do not believe they have organized a petition, most likely for one of three reasons: 1) The bill does not contain any controversial topic and therefore should have little congressional resistance 2) It was instantly sponsored and did not require public attention for a sponsor or 3) Few people know of the animal and would be hesitant to sign such petition, possibly causing hesitation among state congressmen. The Hellbender needs a lot more research done on it. The council is supporting private research and conservation across multiple states. They recently tested some local waters for Hellbender DNA (which is an amazing process), two of which came up as negative, and one of which came back inconclusive. The PFBC is already strained because of it's efforts trying to help endangered and threatened PA species, which the Hellbender is not, as well as maintain staple fish populations. So, as of now, the Hellbender recieves minimal help from the state government. I'm not sure of other specific species, but the council's main goal is to protect the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Susquehanna River in PA. The Susquehanna is a very unhealthy river, which is still suffering from a huge smallmouth bass fish kill, and therefore causes the bay a lot of problems. About 58% of the bay's water comes from the Susquehanna River, and so what's our problem is the bay's problem.