Posted: March 20, 2003

Fossil buffs push for another state symbol

Oregon has 18 official state symbols, ranging from the state flag, state animal and state bird to the state tree, flower and nut. It has a state rock, a state gemstone and even a state seashell.

But Oregon lacks something that every other Western state has - an officially designated "state fossil."

Amateur fossil buff Guy DiTorrice of Newport and a group of people from the eastern Oregon town of Fossil hope to fix that omission.

They're lobbying the 2003 Legislature to name the Metasequoia as the Oregon State Fossil.

The Metasequoia is a cedarlike tree that dominated the flora of much of what is now Oregon for 20 million years. It became extinct here about 5 million years ago.

But it was brought back to North America following World War II after it was discovered in China. Nurseries sometimes market it under the name "dawn redwood."

The Metasequoia is a good symbol of Oregon during ancient and modern times alike, DiTorrice said.

"This is something that had a wide geographical distribution. You can find it by Ontario and in the Siskiyous," he said. "The other thing I like about it is it's one way to recognize Oregon's timber heritage without taking sides about forestry practices."

DiTorrice last month presented the governor and every member of the Legislature with a display box containing a Metasequoia fossil that he personally dug from the John Day Fossil Beds.

Also backing the proposal is the board of directors for the Oregon Paleo Lands Institute, which is working to develop an interpretive center in Central Oregon. The Metasequoia will provide an excellent logo or symbol for the institute's fossil-related projects, the board said.

Other states have generally looked to the animal kingdom for their symbolic fossils. Alaska and Washington have different members of the woolly mammoth as their fossils. California has a saber-toothed cat and Idaho has an ancient horse.

DiTorrice said the proposed designation would not cost state taxpayers anything. The information would simply be added to the Oregon Blue Book and similar materials the next time they are updated for reprinting.

And, of course, the Fossil News would have to issue an updated edition of its newly released book, "Stately Fossils."

by Mike Stahlberg - Register Guard (Eugene, OR)