The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed Endangered Species Act protection today for the elusive fisher.
The animal is a carnivore that primarily lives in old growth forests in California, Oregon and Washington, the Center for Biological Diversity reported. Fishers have been pushed almost completely out of Washington, most of Oregon, and half of California, mainly by logging companies and trapping practices.
"I'm elated that 14 years after we first tried to get these elusive animals protected, they're finally proposed for the Endangered Species Act protection they need to survive," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center and original author of the petition for protection of the fisher in 2000. "Now more than ever fishers need protection from old-growth forest logging, trapping and poisoning."
The fisher once walked much of the western U.S., but today only two naturally occurring populations still exist, one in the southern Sierra and another in southern Oregon and Northern California. In 2008, a population was also reintroduced in the Olympic National Park in Washington.
Trapping of the fisher was outlawed back in the 1940s, but degradation of their natural habitat has caused the decline of their population to persist.
"In addition to Endangered Species Act protection, the strong protections provided by the Northwest Forest Plan for old forest habitat need to be maintained, including on O&C lands," Greenwald said. "And the dangerous rodenticides being used by illegal marijuana growers that have poisoned fishers need to be completely banned."
The decision to protect the West Coast fisher is following a 2011 settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed up the protection decision of 747 plants and animals. Recently, the yellow-billed cuckoo was granted protection under the Endangered Species Act as a result of the settlement.
"The Fish and Wildlife Service has made incredible progress in addressing the backlog of plants and animals facing extinction," said Greenwald. "Now Congress needs to designate sufficient funding for recovery to make sure our country's endangered species get what they need to thrive."
