Published: May 30, 2007 10:22 am      

Perry rejects blind salamander as state symbol

Piling a symbolic snub on top of a substantive one, Gov. Rick Perry this week refused to sign a resolution that would have designated the Texas Blind Salamander as the state’s official amphibian.

The species lives only in underwater limestone caverns of the Edwards Aquifer and in Spring Lake when forced above ground by springs that feed the San Marcos river. The governor cited the creature’s limited range in a three-sentence statement accompanying the disallowance, the practical equivalent of a veto.

“The official designation of items and objects as much-loved objects of Texas should represent the entire state and not just one region or locality. This resolution designates an amphibian as the official State Amphibian of Texas that is found in only one Texas county. Such a small area does not adequately represent the State of Texas as a whole,” Perry wrote.

Dianne Wassenich, the San Marcos River Foundation executive director, said she would expect as much from a state government that just took action that could endanger the species existence during drought conditions.

“I guess its consistent with the Legislature’s decision to raise the pumping caps. It’s too bad that they don’t understand what a unique and special species this particular salamander is,” Wassenich said.

Since 1967 when it became the first animal listed on the federal endangered species list, the slippery cave-dweller has become a symbol of the unique and delicate life sustained by the San Marcos River. It is one of six endangered and one threatened species that are found only in the Edwards Aquifer.

The Texas Blind Salamander resolution was sponsored by State Rep. Dennis Bonnen, an Angleton Republican; a call to the governor’s press office was not returned on Tuesday.