Oregon State University
$50,000  Klamath Mountains   West Cascades 

Wildlife conservation often requires active management to support recovery of at-risk species. Species reintroductions can simultaneously engage diverse stakeholders while facilitating species recovery. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a carnivore of conservation concern historically distributed throughout hardwood-conifer and mixed-conifer forests of North America. Fisher populations declined due to unregulated fur-harvest, forest loss, and incidental take during historical predator-control campaigns. Though fishers have recovered in portions of their historical distribution, fisher recovery in western North America has been limited. Indeed, fishers in the southern Sierra Nevada were listed as federally endangered in 2020 and the Northern California Southern Oregon (NCSO) Distinct Population Segment is under listing consideration by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

In Oregon, fishers are a Conservation Strategy Species and occupy approximately 15% of their historical distribution. While the NCSO represents the largest extant fisher population in the Pacific states, it is physically and genetically isolated from other populations in Washington and California. Threats, including wildfire, forest loss, and climate change, can drastically reduce the quality and extent of fisher habitat and increase risks of isolation and extirpation. To facilitate fisher recovery and persistence in Oregon, a reintroduction was determined to be both feasible and warranted by the USFWS and Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). In response, federal, state, academic, and forest products industry partners propose to develop an Implementation Plan to direct a reintroduction of fishers to the Oregon Cascades; a planning area that includes five Conservation Opportunity Areas. An Implementation Plan will provide measurable and discrete steps to execute a successful reintroduction effort, facilitate the recovery fishers, and ensure their persistence into the future.