Meet Utah's new state mushroom and its new state crustacean

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's list of state symbols is growing.

Gov. Spencer Cox signed HB92 and HB137 into law on Friday, designating porcini as the state mushroom and brine shrimp as the state crustacean, respectively. The new symbols are meant to raise awareness and appreciation regarding the ways the mushroom and crustacean species impact Utah.

In this case, each plays a vital role in the state's ecosystem.

The point of having a state mushroom is to highlight the critical role that fungi play in planetary health, said Rep. Christine Watkins, R-Price, who sponsored the bill.

The porcini mushroom, in particular, can be found in Utah's mid- to high-elevation conifer forests from July through October, according to Keaton Tremble, a mycologist for the Natural History Museum of Utah. He explained during a committee meeting in February that porcini mushrooms are part of mycorrhizal fungi that are "incredibly important for our forests," helping provide 70% to 85% of all the nutrients a tree needs to survive in the forest.

"They live in the soil and they form partnerships with trees, and these fungi are really good at extracting nutrients and water from the soil and they provide it to their partner trees," he said, noting that 20% of the energy produced through the tree's photosynthesis process returns to the fungi in an "obligate relationship" of sorts that keeps both alive.

The porcini mushroom is used by the Natural History Museum of Utah to study how these types of fungi adapt to different environments and what impact they will have on keeping Utah's forests alive. What researchers have found is the porcini mushroom adapts to all sorts of climates and serves as an important indicator of plant health.

In Utah's case, Tremble said the preliminary evidence indicates the species acts differently in northern and southern Utah but nonetheless plays an equally vital role in the differing climates.

"We would not have forests in Utah and anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere without these fungi," he said.

HB137, sponsored by Rep. Rosemary Lesser, D-Ogden, focuses more on highlighting the role that brine shrimp play in the Great Salt Lake's delicate and important ecosystem. It's a bill that was brought to Lesser by a group of sixth-grade students at Emerson Elementary School in Salt Lake City.

The species is very tiny, ranging from ⅓-inch to ½-inch in size. While small, brine shrimp have played a large role in the region's ecosystem for at least 600,000 years, according to the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Luft says that the shrimp are an "invaluable" food source for the estimated 10 million migratory birds that use the Great Salt Lake every year. Some birds, like eared grebes, become flightless in the fall and rely solely on brine shrimp to survive at that time.

There's a multimillion-dollar industry related to harvesting cysts laid by brine shrimp, which are then used as food for fish and commercially grown shrimp, Luft explains. The Great Salt Lake's commercial brine shrimp fishery accounts for about 40% of the worldwide demand for brine shrimp needed in the fish and shrimp industry.

It's why Laura Vernon, the Great Salt Lake coordinator for the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, pointed out last year that the global fish and shrimp supply could be decimated without Utah's brine shrimp.

"The importance of the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake ecosystem can't be overstated," Luft said Monday. "We are thrilled about the designation of the brine shrimp as the state crustacean and the attention they are getting for their role at the Great Salt Lake."

The brine shrimp and porcini mushroom join an ever-growing list of state symbols.

Utah has had symbols representing itself almost from the beginning of its pioneer establishment in 1847. The skep beehive first became a symbol for the Territory of Deseret in 1848, marking the community's industry, thrift and perseverance, and as a nod to a symbol in the Book of Mormon tied to the word "deseret," or honeybee, according an article in the Deseret News.

It has essentially stuck with the community ever since. Harry Emmett Edwards included the beehive in his design of the state seal, which was adopted by leaders in April 1896, months after Utah was given statehood, Utah History Encyclopedia notes. The skep design didn't officially become the state emblem until then-Gov. George Clyde signed a bill in 1959 that codified the symbol.

Utah would not be the Beehive State without that symbol.

Of course, the state has gone on to add dozens of symbols over time, from a state bird (the California gull) to the state astronomical symbol (the Beehive Cluster located in the Cancer constellation of the Milky Way Galaxy) and, even the state cooking pot (a Dutch oven).

A full list of Utah's significant symbols can be found here.