In a coup for the dark and damp, bats and mushrooms get their moment in Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Deep in the shuttered gold mines that defined California’s beginnings there live colonies of golden-hued mammals that could come to define the state’s future: the once-humble Pallid bat.
Chiroptera enthusiasts have been working to get a state bat on the books since at least 2017, but the movement kicked into high gear this year when a 12-year-old from Los Angeles began a well-connected lobbying campaign to elevate the Pallid bat to icon status.
Over half of North America’s 154 bat species are at riskof population decline in the next 15 years, and yet the Pallid bat — which eats scorpions and drinks cactus water — is surviving. It’s on the state’s list of mammals to watch, but is not endangered or threatened.
Still, middle-schooler Naomi D’Alessio wants to make sure the flying mammals are protected for years to come. So she began lobbying state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City) to author the bat bill, CA SB732 (23R), this year after recording bat calls in her backyard. Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) — whose longtime partner is D’Alessio’s cousin — declined to carry the legislation because she had too many other proposals in the works, but she’ll be shepherding it through the Assembly.
“Their golden fur color is perfect for our Golden State,” D’Alessio testified at a recent Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee hearing. “They’re very social bats, and Pallid bats in different parts of the state communicate with each other in different languages that we can actually tell apart, just like humans.”
Pallid bats don’t live just in abandoned mine shafts, but also in the trees, under porches and the overpasses and caves around the state. Their voracious diet of vermin helps humans in numerous ways, D’Alessio pointed out. The bats save farmers money on pest control, limit the spread of Zika and West Nile by gobbling up mosquitoes and reduce the risk of wildfires by eating the dreaded Bark Beetle that’s killing California trees and leaving forests susceptible to blazes.
The Pallid bat is not the only thing vying for a chance to enter the canon of anointed state symbols. Another proposal moving through the Legislature this year would name the Golden Chanterelle the state mushroom, joining the ranks of the Golden Poppy and California Redwood as beatified state flora.
An analysis of the measure notes that Golden Chanterelles, which cannot be grown commercially, go for up to $224 per pound. Technically not worth their weight in gold, but still a solid investment.
The hope is that designating the Golden Chanterelle as the official mushroom will promote the same reverence people have for the state’s flower, the Golden Poppy. People often erroneously believe it’s illegal to cut or damage that hallowed bloom.
“In fact, there is no law protecting the California poppy, but the designation endeared an appreciation of the flower and perpetuated the myth that no one may pick them,” according to a legislative analysis of the measure. With any luck, that halo will extend to the chanterelle, too.
Three other states have official mushrooms, and, in fact, the Golden Chanterelle already represents Oregon. Only time will tell if this little fungus can carry the weight of both states.
California often positions itself as a symbol of progressive ideals, economic opportunity and technical achievement. But it’s also bursting with its own emblems — 36 to be exact, although that number is debatable given that the title of State Nut is shared by four different types: almond, walnut, pistachio and pecan.
How would one best represent the history and ingenuity of California in a fabric? That’s easy: only denim can capture the spirit of the Golden State. But what about an official state lichen, the complex moss-like organism that’s something of a mix between algae and fungi? True moss fans know that only the Lace Lichen could really represent California as the state’s official lichen.
Don’t let the number of symbols fool you. It's no easy task to represent the Golden State, and many have failed to capture Californians’ imaginations. Attempts to name an official state shake, state horse and state “ship of exploration” have all withered in the Legislature.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger once vetoed a bill that would have made the Chinook salmon the official state anadromous fish (unnecessary) and another that would have made Zinfandel the state wine (too controversial).
So why add another symbol? That very question was posed to D’Alessio by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) in her appearance before the Assembly committee, and she was ready for it.
“I think because bats don’t really have as good a reputation as some other plants and animals, I think having a state bat will get people more excited about bats,” she testified. “That might make them want to learn more, and hopefully want to protect them.”
