BIODIVERSITY PROTECTION
A Voice for the Hellbender PROTECTING MISSOURI’S ENDANGERED SPECIES
Growing up in the small farming community of Linn, Mo., Cameron Gehlert always had an interest in agriculture and a passion for the environment. “When I was young, I’d make my mom pull over so I could pick up trash from the side of the road,” Cameron said, smiling. In the 8th grade, he started a recycling program at his school and has also earned an American FFA Degree—the highest degree achievable in the national Future Farmers of America organization. One day, while reading about state designations in Missouri, Cameron noticed there was not a designation for an endangered species. “I thought that would be a great way to bring awareness to a species that needed our help,” he said. “There’s a quote from The Lorax that has always stuck with me, and I thought, ‘This is something I could do that could really make something better.’” “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” — Dr. Seuss, The Lorax Missouri is well-known for its rivers and streams, and Cameron decided the hellbender should be a contender, since the state is the only place in the world that both subspecies—the eastern hellbender and Ozark hellbender— can be found. What’s a Hellbender? The hellbender—also known as the snot otter and lasagna lizard—is a large aquatic salamander that requires clean, cool rivers and streams to survive. The hellbender has been on our continent for over 6 million years, but populations have continued to drastically decline due to habitat loss, lowered water quality, illegal collection, and disease. Research shows that their population has decreased by 75 percent since the 1980s. In 2011, the Ozark hellbender was listed as a federally endangered species.
Working with a couple of Missouri representatives, Cameron, now a student at Westminster College, helped create the legislation to make the hellbender the official endangered species of Missouri. The bill received support from groups including The Nature Conservancy, the Saint Louis Zoo, the Sierra Club, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Canoe & Floaters Association. In July 2019, Gov. Michael Parson signed the bill into law. One legislator asked if this bill would be repealed if the hellbender is removed from the state and federal endangered species list. Cameron’s reply: “Your outlook is more optimistic than mine. If the hellbender makes a comeback, I’ll happily help get it changed to the official saved species of Missouri.”
THIS PAGE TOP Cameron Gehlert (center) with Gov. Mike Parsons (left) as the hellbender bill is signed into law. © Courtesy of Cameron Gehlert; BOTTOM Ozark hellbender. © U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
6 MISSOURI: ACTION AND IMPACT
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