Pacific Fisher Returns

A healthy natural environment is essential to our survival. We are faced with the need to correct past mistakes and create a sustainable balance. the reintroduction of the Pacific Fisher is a positive step toward that balance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Pacific Fisher Returns to Washington
Conservation Northwest welcomes the return of a native forest mammal to our state

Port Angeles, WA Sunday Jan 27, 2008

With fresh snow on the ground and blue skies above, the Pacific fisher returned home to its habitat in Washington State for the first time in over eighty years. The fisher, a relative of the weasel family that thrives in old-growth forests, was eliminated in Washington State due to over-trapping and the loss of big trees and snags found in old-growth forests. Biological studies determined that active reintroduction efforts were needed to reestablish fisher populations in Washington, identifying the Olympic National Park as the best initial location.

In 2002, Conservation Northwest partnered with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to initiate the reestablishment of a native population of fishers to the forests of western Washington.

After five years of planning, eleven Pacific fishers were released today into old forests in the Olympic National Park, including a location near the Elwha River. A crowd of forty onlookers, which included students from Stevens Elementary School in Port Angeles, were on hand to witness the historic event. The partnership ultimately involved five agencies (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympic National Park, Olympic National Forest, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey) and two non-profit organizations: Conservation Northwest and Washington’s National Park Fund. (full press-release)