North Cascades and Mount Rainier National Parks Seek Public Input on Fisher Reintroduction
Sedro Woolley, WA – August 15, 2013 – North Cascades National Park Complex is seeking comments on a proposed plan to reintroduce the Pacific fisher to Mount Rainier and North Cascades national parks. The fisher is a member of the weasel family that occurs in low- to mid-elevation closed canopy forests with large trees and logs.
Considered extirpated (absent) from Washington since the mid-1990s, the Pacific fisher (Pekania pennanti) is the only native carnivore that is no longer found within the Cascade Range of Washington State. In 1998, the State formally listed the fisher as endangered, and in 2004, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the West Coast fisher as a federal candidate for listing as an endangered or threatened species.
To restore this species to its historical range in Washington, Mount Rainier and North Cascades national parks are proposing to team up with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to reintroduce this species to the North and South Cascades—the last two of the three major ecosystems statewide where successful fisher reintroduction is needed in order to meet Washington State’s recovery goals for this species. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Olympic National Park staff successfully reintroduced fishers at Olympic National Park from 2008-2010.
“It is very exciting to partner with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Mount Rainier National Park to reintroduce the fisher to this area,” said North Cascades National Park Complex Superintendent Karen Taylor-Goodrich. “Reintroducing any species, much less one as wild as the fisher, is a complex and dynamic process and requires the collaboration of landowners and managers across the landscape to be successful.”
Public comments may be submitted between August 15 and September 30, 2013. During this time, comments may be submitted online at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/RestoreFisher or by regular mail to North Cascades National Park Complex, 810 State Route 20, Sedro-Woolley, Washington, 98284.
<Update, August 29: The NPS website has occasionally been down; if the link above doesn’t work, please try again later!>
Read more about the proposed reintroduction at The Seattle Times.
I clicked on the above provided link: http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/RestoreFisher to comment on the plan to reintroduce the Fisher to the Cascades, and got a “This Page does Not Exist” message.
My comment would have been:
I support the plan to reintroduce the Fisher to the Cascades 100%. Hopefully, the causes of its extirpation have been studied and will be addressed so as to ensure the greatest chance of success of this program. While most of us will never see these or the various other shy predators that roam the cascades, it is heartening to know that the diversity of wildlife is being nurtured and protected. Thank you!
The link, http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/RestoreFisher does not work.
Also, you state that, “…the Pacific fisher (Pekania pennanti) is the only native carnivore that is no longer found within the Cascade Range of Washington State.”
What about the grizzly bear? When was the last time one was seen (I’m talking about a reliable and positive sighting)?
The NPS website has been having some difficulty, but the link appears to be working again. Thanks so much for contributing your comments to this project — our friends at North Cascades National Park are very eager for the public to weigh in!
@Giselle: there was a positive ID on a Grizzly Bear in the North Cascades in July 2011; here is some more info: http://www.conservationnw.org/news/updates/momentous-news-for-cascades-grizzly-bear-recovery