Idaho Could Get State Amphibian Under House bill - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

Idaho Could Get State Amphibian Under House Bill

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BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Move over monarchs and mountain bluebirds: there could be a new state symbol coming to Idaho.
    
The Idaho Giant Salamander could soon join the state's other icons under a measure introduced in the House State Affairs Committee Wednesday.
    
Ilah Hickman, a 6th grader at Burley's White Pine Elementary, presented the proposal declaring the Idaho Giant Salamander as the state amphibian of Idaho.
    
She's been working on this since she was a 4th grader and said 26 of her classmates support the bill.
    
Nampa Republican Rep. Brent Crane invited Hickman's fellow students to come testify on the measure.
    
Twelve-year-old Hickman said the salamander is a perfect fit because it bears the state's name - and its skin pattern resembles the state's Bitterroot Mountain Range, crossed by the explorers Lewis and Clark.

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