A cat-size animal in the weasel family native to Southern Oregon will receive greater habitat protection thanks to a new agreement announced this week between the Oregon Department of Forestry and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Habitat of the Pacific fisher is restricted primarily to parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. The fisher is currently under consideration to be listed as a federally threatened or endangered species. The agreement between state and federal land managers expands protections on nearly 184,000 acres of land owned by the Oregon Board of Forestry where fishers historically lived.
鈥淭he traditional process is, you list a species, develop a recovery team and work with landowners to try to do those things,鈥� said Paul Henson, the Oregon state supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 鈥淲hat this does is it front-end loads that. Instead of doing it after a listing, you鈥檙e trying to do it before a listing.鈥�
The agreement includes land in Santiam, Gilchrist and Sun Pass state forests, as well as Board of Forestry land in Lane, Douglas, Coos and Josephine counties.
鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially a proactive measure,鈥� said Jason Cox, a public affairs specialist with the Oregon Department of Forestry.
The agreement, known as a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, stipulates that in exchange for conservation efforts now, land owned by the Board of Forestry will not be subject to 鈥渁dditional conservation measures or future restrictions.鈥�
鈥淲e agree to have Fish and Wildlife be able to monitor how we鈥檙e doing on the agreement and it provides assurances so long as we鈥檙e holding up our end of the deal,鈥� Cox said.
If active fisher dens are found on state forest land, timber operators would take conservation steps to ensure the species isn鈥檛 impacted by forestry activities. The agreements are similar to past sage grouse management plans in eastern Oregon, according to Henson. There are currently no known fishers on the Oregon Department of Forestry land designated for protection, according to Cox, but that could change if fishers are reintroduced in the future.
The Pacific fisher is a candidate for being listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act. The future status of the animal is currently being evaluated at the federal level by U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials. Henson says addressing habitat issues with state landowners early is typically more effective than after a listing occurs.
鈥淭he bottom line is you鈥檙e encouraging good activity from those land owners,鈥� Henson said. 鈥淎fter a listing they鈥檙e much less likely to want to engage.鈥�
