Nothing like getting all sentimental about a fish on the brink. Absence making the heart fonder with the “P” factor – some deep political agenda in some codicil of parchment from a Mexican land grant.

Now that the California Chinook is a couple seasons away from being a genome hidden in a long bank of drawers buried in Cheyenne Mountain, legislators want to adopt the poor downtrodden anadromous “bag lady” and restore her to prominence.

The Chinook salmon, largest of the Pacific salmons and once in abundance in the Central Valley where they spawn in the rivers and creeks, would become California’s official state anadromous fish under a bill authored by Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael.

But the bill would do more.

It establishes a state goal to restore Chinook salmon to sustainable levels within a decade. The population of the fish has declined dramatically in recent years to the point where some feel it is headed toward extinction.

Or perhaps they just want to pull on Senator Feinstein’s whiskers by adopting the Chinook salmon as the official California anadromous fish. Rebellion against her proposed legislation extends throughout her constituency, with 15 Democratic legislators signing a letter asking her to cease and desist on the planned water grab.

It’s likely the noble Chinook will require modification of the state flag – our repository for the noblest of California wildlife long extinct.

Since the California poppy is California’s official state flower, it is protected by state law prohibiting persons from picking or destroying it.

The state affords some small protections for harvesting official wildlife, perhaps some canny legislator recognizes he can undermine the farm lobby by conferring an official title.

This bill would require the restoration of the Chinook to historic norms – in addition to conferring the official designation, naturally it lacks all detail to achieve that lofty goal.

Tags: Chinook restoration, Official anadromous fish, Senator Dianne Feinstein, water wars, California Poppy, on the brink,