Pacific Fisher Management and Policy

Pacific fishers declined or became extinct in much of their range due to habitat loss and heavy trapping in the 18th century. Pacific fishers continue to be threatened by loss of habitat and continued logging and road building The following are management and policy programs and projects in which Defenders is participating to protect pacific fishers.

Inter-Agency Cooperation

Defenders of Wildlife is part of the Coordination Committee of the Pacific Fisher Working Group which includes agency biologists, timber companies and fisher scientists. This coordination committee ensures communication and integration of efforts on southern California Forest Service lands, other California lands and throughout the western range of the Pacific Fisher.

Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is exploring entering into Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA’s) with private landowners to provide more fisher habitat in the Sierra Nevada. These agreements must go through NEPA and thus have a public comment period on projects where Defenders can provide input. All successful CCAA’s for non-federal property owners will be analyzed by Defenders as to their reliance on sound science and their potential to mitigate for the other negative affects their land-use practices may have on the fisher. Learn more about CCAAs.

Draft CCAA for Fisher for the Stirling Management Area (10/3/2007)
The stated purpose of this CCAA is for Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) to implement conservation measures for fisher in California. The conservation measure consists of management of fisher denning and resting habitat on SPI lands in the Sierra Nevada.

Defenders comments on the draft CCAA  (11/9/2007)
Read Defenders' comments on the draft CCAA.

Analyzing Forest Service Policy and its Effect on the Fisher

Plans and policies of the Forest Service continue to have effects on fisher populations throughout the Sierra Nevada.  Defenders is scrutinizing the science and justification for forest services policies, as well as the effects adaptive management strategies and climate change may have on fisher conservation. 

In March of 2007 Defenders participated in the scoping study for the Forest Service’s Sierra Nevada Forests Management Indicator Species (MIS) Amendment and wrote formal comments on this process. 

Impact of Climate Change on Fishers

Climate change is likely to further complicate conservation and management efforts for the fisher in the future.  Defenders is committed to understanding the climate change science and its possible tools for managing for this species in an uncertain environment.

Defenders is a member of the Climate and Conservation Group in conjunction with the Pacific Forest Trust, which looks at how to promote the goals of the conservation community in the state of California’s developing climate policy.

Because this group has a focus on climate policy at the state level and conservation projects on the ground, it is hoped that information gleaned will impact Defenders’ approach to fisher conservation and strategic planning