The Senate Wednesday overwhelmingly passed Senate Bill 658 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) 47 to 2 to designate the Eastern hellbender as Pennsylvania’s official state amphibian as a symbol of the importance of clean water in the Commonwealth.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee and a member of the interstate Chesapeake Bay Commission, is prime sponsor of the bill.

“They are a natural barometer of water quality and they live where the water is clean,” Sen. Yaw said, recalling days as a youngster catching hellbenders in the local creek. “If they are surviving in the streams in this area, that is a good sign for the water quality. Here is nature’s own testing kit for good water quality.”

Senate - House Amphibian Competition/Compromise

Shortly after the Senate action, House Majority Leader David Reed (R-Indiana) circulated a co-sponsor memo to colleagues announcing his intention to introduce a resolution naming the Wehrle’s Salamander as the state’s official amphibian.

Rep. Reed said this salamander was discovered by R. W. Wehrle, a jeweler, businessman, and naturalist from Indiana, Pennsylvania in 1911. He was known for his submissions of animal specimens to museums and for providing outdoors experiences for area boys through his Boy’s Naturalist Club. In 1917, the salamander he discovered was named after him.

Associated Press Poll

The Hellbender bill prompted Associated Press reporter Marc Levy @timelywriter to do a 24-hour poll on Twitter pitting the Hellbender against the Wehrle’s Salamander.  The Hellbender won handily with 90 percent of the vote with 144 votes counted.

Possible Compromise

A scientific source told PA Environment Digest there is a possible compromise to this Senate-House dilemma. 

The Wehrle's Salamander lives primarily on land so let this salamander be Pennsylvania’s official State Terrestrial Salamander.  The Eastern Hellbender lives primarily in the water so let that be Pennsylvania’s official State Aquatic Salamander.

Everyone wins!  And a lot more people know about salamanders in Pennsylvania.

We will await developments…. meanwhile...

Background On Hellbender

Much of what remains of a depleted hellbender population in Pennsylvania can be found in waters within the Sen. Yaw’s district, which includes Bradford, Lycoming, Sullivan, part of Susquehanna and Union counties.

The campaign on behalf of North America’s largest salamander is the brainchild of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Student Leadership Council. The students have studied the hellbender extensively, wrote the first draft of Senate Bill 658, and are working for its passage.

“It’s about all species that rely on clean water, which essentially encompasses all wildlife in Pennsylvania, including us,” SLC President Anna Pauletta said of the campaign. “Being able to speak up for something that doesn’t necessarily have a voice and making impact on their survivorship through legislation.” She is a senior at Cumberland Valley High School.

“Long-term we are also looking to raise awareness for clean water in general, but within the legislative process as well, because it’s an issue that is commonly overlooked,” Pauletta added.

Without help and more clean water, the Eastern hellbender could disappear.

Hellbenders survive where there is cold, clear, swift-running water. They prefer rocky streambeds. Their spongelike bodies allow them to squeeze into crevices which they use for protection and for nesting. The slimy salamanders feed at night, primarily on crayfish.

Folds of wrinkled skin provide a large surface through which they draw most of their oxygen.

The presence of streamside trees or forested buffers stands out among factors that enable hellbenders to survive.

“Forested buffers are one of the most cost-effective practices available for not only keeping pollutants out of the stream, but also for providing hellbenders cool, clean water and habitat to live,” said CBF’s Pennsylvania Executive Director Harry Campbell. “Science tells us no other practice does so much for so many.”

A lack of forested buffers along Commonwealth waterways allows waters to warm, polluted runoff to enter rivers and streams, and silt to build up in streambeds. As a result, habitat has been degraded and hellbender numbers were decimated in streams where they were plentiful as recently as 1990.

In Pennsylvania, roughly 19,000 miles of rivers and streams are fouled by pollution.

The Senator and the students believe recognizing the Eastern hellbender as the state amphibian can encourage more Pennsylvanians to protect it and its environment.

“The idea of promoting the name in and of itself is unique,” Sen. Yaw said. “I think there are a lot of people in the state that have never heard of this particular creature.”

The Senator notes that the students will benefit in the process as well.

“Even in times of budget crisis and pensions and everything else impacting Pennsylvania, this is something that showed the student sponsors of the bill that their elected officials do, indeed, listen to them.  They had a great idea and I was privileged to present their idea to the Senate on their behalf,” Sen. Yaw added.

The student effort on behalf of the hellbender began last summer.

CBF student leaders have installed hellbender nesting boxes in the upper Susquehanna, and sampled streams for the presence of hellbender DNA.

They gathered support for the hellbender designation from conservation groups, and visited the State University of New York (SUNY) Lab in Buffalo, N.Y. to learn about DNA testing. They also went to the Buffalo Zoo to see hellbenders up close.

The students are collaborating with Dr. Peter Petokas, noted research associate at the Clean Water Institute at Lycoming College in Williamsport. Dr. Petokas has studied hellbenders for more than 10 years and has captured and microchipped over 3,000 of them.

CBF’s Student Leadership Program is open to all high school students and is designed to give them a voice and an active role in clean water efforts in Pennsylvania.

More information about the campaign for the Eastern hellbender, CBF’s Hellbender webpage.  Click Here to watch a video about hellbenders.

The bill now goes to the House for action (sponsor summary).  Senators Scott Hutchinson (R-Venango) and Daniel Laughlin (R-Erie) voted against the bill.

For more on Chesapeake Bay-related issues in Pennsylvania, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation-PA webpage.  Click Here to sign up for Pennsylvania updates (bottom of left column).  Click Here to become a member.

NewsClips:

AP: Hellbender Gets Senate OK As Official PA Amphibian

Kummer: Hellbender, a.k.a. Snot Otter, Could Soon Be PA’s Official Amphibian

Hellbender Step Closer To Being PA Clean Water Mascot

Senate Approves Bill Designating Eastern Hellbender As PA’s State Amphibian

AP: Showdown Looming Over Official State Amphibian: Hellbender v. Wehrle’s Salamander

Kummer: Battle Looms Over PA State Amphibian: Hellbender v. Wehrle’s

Marc Levy @timelywriter Salamander Poll Results: 90% Eastern Hellbender, 10% Wehrle’s Salamander with 144 votes counted.

[Posted: Nov. 15, 2017]

11/20/2017