Minnesota's 20,000 black bears might get some official love from the state if a legislator from Columbia Heights gets her way.
DFL Sen. Barb Goodwin introduced a bill Tuesday that would designate the black bear as the state's official mammal. She did so at the behest of a first-grade class in Andover that's pushing for the official recognition. Class members have gathered more than 1,600 signatures on an online petition supporting their campaign.
If what's also known as Ursus americanas gets the nod, it would join a long list of luminaries that legislators have deemed official. The state has no fewer than 17 state symbols, starting with the lady slipper more than a century ago. Among others on the list: the loon, walleye, monarch butterfly, wild rice and blueberry muffin.
The complete list can be found here.
The bears could have an uphill legislative slog, if history is any guide: white-tailed deer, timber wolves and ground squirrels have been nominated for state mammal at least 16 times in the past, but those bills never made it to the governor's desk.
