Logging will destroy fisher habitat unless the public acts!

Once again the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed listing the Pacific fisher (Pekania pennant) as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

Not coincidentally, timber companies in California are girding for large-scale logging operations in fisher habitat.

Their intention is to get out the cut before any critical habitat designations restrict logging!

Please urge the FWS to act promptly in listing the fisher as threatened. Your comments can make all the difference! To comment, visit http://www.regulations.gov/
#!docketDetail;D=FWS-R8-ES-2014-0041. For comment suggestions,
visit our letters page.

Because the FWS listing is not yet final—with public comments still coming into the agency through Jan. 5, 2015— timber companies are gearing up to log apace, with plans for operations in ranges known to be inhabited by fishers.

For instance, not far from Castle Crags State Park, west of I-5 near Dunsmuir, Calif., a company is planning some 450 acres of clearcuts in forests of Douglas-fir, ponderosa pine, white fir, incense cedar and sugar pine: prime fisher country.

The fisher is a member of the weasel family and is highly dependent on old-growth forests. Adults weigh about 10 pounds and are about three feet long. This scrappy little animal is the only one known to regularly prey on porcupine.

The FWS has previously put off listing the fisher, citing other priorities for its resources, even though its research concludes the animal is in dire need of protection. The public must come to the fisher’s rescue!