Mad about Marmots

Posted by: Julia Swan, Communications

What do you get when you cross an Olympic Marmot, six ambitious 10-year-olds, and a mammalogy curator? A new state law, of course!

Yesterday afternoon, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire signed a new law designating the Olympic Marmot as the official endemic mammal of Washington State. So now, in addition to having a State Bird (Willow Goldfinch), State Tree (Western Hemlock), State Flower (Coast Rhododendron) and other official symbols, the state of Washington has a State Endemic Mammal (endemic, by the way, refers to a species that is only found in one location, so the Olympic Marmot is only found in our state).

I joined a small team of Burke staff and one Olympic Marmot specimen from the museum collection in taking a trip down to the Seattle Aquarium to witness the signing of the bill into law. I met the six enthusiastic students from Wedgwood Elementary school who had testified twice to the state legislature about the importance of the Olympic Marmot to Washington’s heritage and who had essentially driven the passing of this law. While I was pretty excited to see the governor in person for the first time, I was equally honored to be in the presence of such inspiring kids. The best thing I overheard all afternoon was one of the students commenting, “I hope we set an example for students around Washington and show them that kids can make a difference too!” Hear, hear!

Images: (top center) Olympic Marmot drawing by Eric Buzard; (center left) Wedgwood Elementary School students (back row, L to R) Garrett Lawrence, Claire Demorest, Gabe Briggs, Erin Cunningham, (front row, L to R) Caroline Malone, and Nick Jansen testified twice in Olympia to pass a new bill that names the Olympic Marmot (specimen seen in photo) as the official state endemic mammal, photo by Owen Lawrence; (bottom center) Wedgwood students and staff celebrate as Gov. Gregoire signs the endemic mammal law.