Sims & Co Shoot Down Salamander

Ilah Hickman poses for a photo with a young Idaho giant salamander at the Capitol in Boise Monday. Idaho lawmakers worried that special recognition of the Idaho giant salamander could lead to federal protections have rejected a grade school student’s request that it be named the state amphibian. (AP Photo/The Spokesman-Review, Betsy Z. Russell)

North Idaho lawmakers concerned about “federal overreach” helped kill a bill today that’s been pushed for the past five years by a determined 8th grader who wants to designate the Idaho Giant Salamander as the official state amphibian. Although an Idaho attorney general’s opinion advised lawmakers that designating a state symbol wouldn’t do anything to protect it or make it endangered, Rep. Kathy Sims, R-Coeur d’Alene, said, “It can become protected – there’s actually no legal impediment.” She said as a North Idaho resident, she’s wary of tales like that of the spotted owl/ Betsy Russell , SR. More here .

Question: It takes my breath away that people (read: Reps. Sims, Barbieri & Cheatham) can be so paranoid about the federal government. Worse still, some of them represent us in the Idaho Legislature. Thoughts?