News from the Senate Majority
Alaska State Legislature

Wendy Lindskoog, Senate Majority Press Secretary
State Capitol
Juneau, AK 99801-1182
Phone: 907/465-4582
http://www.akrepublicans.org
Broadcast Actualities: 800/478-6540

Bullwinkle Making a Come-Back

Senate Passes Bill Naming Moose as the State’s Land Mammal

For Immediate Release: February 20, 1998 Contact: Senator John Torgerson, 465-2828.

Juneau – The moose is loose in the State Capitol where the Senate Friday voted unanimously to name the large gangly creature Alaska’s official land mammal.

Senator John Torgerson (R-Kasilof) introduced Senate Bill 265 on behalf of his young constituents at Kalifornsky Beach Elementary School. After considerable research, students at the school found that while an Alaska marine mammal had been designated, Alaskans had not officially designated a land mammal.

Students agreed on a list of four finalists including the moose, wolf, brown bear and wolverine, based on each mammal’s impact on Alaska’s culture and history. As part of a school government project, the elementary school students held a primary and general election to decide on the winner. They then met with members of Soldotna High School’s government class, who acted as legislative committee members so the elementary students could practice the presentations they would later make to legislators in Juneau.

"I feel privileged the students in my district asked me to represent their project," Torgerson said. "The students were compelling in their testimony to convince lawmakers why the moose deserves this privileged status."

Torgerson said that despite strong support for naming the moose as the official land mammal, he has had a difficult time ensuring the bill arrives through the legislative process unamended.

"My collegues in the Senate have contracted Moose Mania. They have offered countless suggestions to change the bill," Torgerson said.

Those suggestions include:

• Chocolate Moose the Official State Dessert
• Moose Nuggets the Official State Fertilizer
• Change the Official State Mammal from the Moose to the Mouse
• Bullwinkle J. Moose the Official State Cartoon Character
• Moose Head Mount the Official State Game Trophy

"I wish we could all come up with a project like this for every school. The lessons students learn about the legislative process and how to lobby for their beliefs, how to testify before legislative committees and how to gain support from other governmental bodies, are lessons that far outweigh the legislation we considered today," Torgerson said.

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= John Torgerson, 100 K