The Oregon state fossil is a tree, Metasequoia, the dawn redwood.
Oregon was covered by seas and waterways during the Mesozoic period, so if you consider ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterosaurs to be dinosaurs, then we have those. You can occasionally find fossil shells in the mountains, which is always a strange pleasure.
I mean… technically we’re a union of independent states, that have agreed to abide by a federal government. Each state has its own governor, and senate, and so on. Its own laws (as seen in Oregon’s recent decision to decriminalize all drugs and focus on prevention and rehabilitation, instead of punishment and incarceration). State flags, rocks, and other emblems of mini-national pride make a certain kind of sense…
I’m sure it made more sense when it was individual colonies – literally their own “states” – agreeing to the structure. The US was probably more like the European Union, at the time. It’s just shifted into something else.
Oregon has tons of fossils, including a town named Fossil. It’s just that most of them are from the giant mammal eras rather than the thunder lizard eras.
Oklahoma’s state vegetable is the watermelon. I don’t usually advocate mimicking Oklahoma, but if HI wants a state dinosaur badly enough, they’ll just have to declare something the state dinosaur.
Btw it was when I learned about the watermelon that I switched from thinking that lists of state things are totally silly, to thinking they were potentially really fun.
What’s criteria for a national anything, or a state anything?
We probably don’t need national songs. It’s not like we compete annually in a song-singing competition with other nations. But as part of our national identity, it’s a nice thing to have. I’d be happy if Oregon chose a plesiosaur as it’s state dinosaur. That would be a nice part of our state identity, such as it is.
Official state X’s are usually opportunities for states to highlight their unique natural and cultural identities and histories. It’s not really any more or less meaningful than anything else humans do, really.