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Reintroduced Fishers Are Reproducing In The Cascades

File photo. Since 2015, 80 fishers have been released in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.
National Park Service
File photo. Since 2015, 80 fishers have been released in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

There’s no way to know for sure how many fishers lived in the Cascades historically, because the small brown mammal was almost entirely eradicated by trappers by 1930.

But this week, there’s evidence that they are reproducing.


For the last 15 years, state and federal agencies have worked in partnership with non-profit Conservation Northwest to bring the fisher—a fur-bearing, tree-climbing, porcupine-eating mammal—back to the Northwest.

In 2008, 90 fishers were trapped in British Columbia and reintroduced in the Olympic National Park. Two years ago, another 80 fishers from B.C. were released in Gifford Pinchot National Forest.

Now, a grainy photo from Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife shows a female fisher descending a tree with a kit in her mouth.

This image of a young female fisher with her kit is the first evidence that the animal is reproducing in the Cascades.
Credit WDFW - tinyurl.com/ybqnglvf
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WDFW - tinyurl.com/ybqnglvf
This image of a young female fisher with her kit is the first evidence that the animal is reproducing in the Cascades.


“That is the first evidence of successful fisher reproduction in the Cascades,” Conservation Northwest Science and Conservation Director Dave Werntz said.


Last Spring, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opted out of listing the Pacific fisher as an endangered species, backtracking from a report two years prior that called for the listing.



Beginning this winter, fishers will be released in the North Cascades.

Copyright 2017 Northwest News Network

Emily Schwing
Emily Schwing comes to the Inland Northwest by way of Alaska, where she covered social and environmental issues with an Arctic spin as well as natural resource development, wildlife management and Alaska Native issues for nearly a decade. Her work has been heard on National Public Radio’s programs like “Morning Edition” and “All things Considered.” She has also filed for Public Radio International’s “The World,” American Public Media’s “Marketplace,” and various programs produced by the BBC and the CBC. She has also filed stories for Scientific American, Al Jazeera America and Arctic Deeply.