February 11, 2010
An alliance of environmental groups plans to sue the U.S. Department of the Interior for failing to place the West Coast fisher on the Endangered Species List.
The historical trapping of the animal, a relative of the mink that weighs as much as a house cat, and logging of old-growth forests have “devastated” West Coast fisher populations, the groups contend.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Forest Legacy, Environmental Protection Information Center and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Interior Department on Feb. 4. The groups can file a complaint in federal court 60 days after that date.
Fishers once ranged throughout the forests of Canada and the United Sates, including Washington, Oregon and California. They were almost completely wiped out in the United States, due to a desire for their pelts, which fetched $150 apiece in 1900. They are now making a comeback in some parts of the country.
Today, in California, two native fisher populations exist: Near the California-Oregon border and in the southern Sierra Nevada, about half of the animals’ historic statewide territory, say the groups bringing the lawsuit.
Timber industry groups worry placing the West Coast fisher on the Endangered Species List will hinder logging operations, as such a designation places restrictions on human activities in areas deemed critical habitat.
Chris Conrad, president of the Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment, sees the environmental groups’ push to list the fisher as an underhanded way to stop logging operations. Twain Harte-based TuCARE defends the interests of cattle and logging operators in the Stanislaus National Forest.
Forests in the Sierra Nevada are so overgrown in places that a catastrophic fire is inevitable without more logging, Conrad said.
“I think it’s evident that these groups have another agenda, and that is to completely shut down forest management,” Conrad said. “It’s unfortunate because the thing that endangers the fisher right now is the incredible buildup of forest fuels. If we don’t address that, their whole habitat is going to burn down.”
Noah Greenwald, of the Center for Biological Diversity, accused the Interior Department of “foot dragging” for not listing the fisher.
The Interior Department, since 2004, has designated the fisher as a species warranting Endangered Species Act protections, but, Greenwald noted, such a designation provides no protections.
The Interior Department cites a lack of resources and says various other species warrant protections ahead of the fisher.
Greenwald insists the suit is not a gouge at the timber industry.
“It’s not about stopping logging, it’s about protection,” Greenwald said.
Furthermore, according to Greenwald, logging can actually increase the risk of forest fires.
“Young clear-cuts spread fire better than anything,” he said. “Logging big trees that the fisher relies on makes the problem worse.”
Greenwald advocated prescribed burns to ease the fire risk in some areas, but Conrad countered state air-quality rules have curtailed forest managers’ ability to use fire.
Conrad added that some logging companies, like Sierra Pacific Industries, have planted fishers in parts of the Sierra Nevada. Because it is the only animal that regularly preys on porcupines, which often kill or damage small trees, the timber industry has reintroduced the fisher to many parts of the country.
Greenwald countered that the logging companies’ reintroduction efforts don’t make up for the loss of the old-growth forest habitat that fishers rely on.
Greenwald also pointed to the fisher-porcupine relationship to illustrate the important niche various animals have in ecosystems. Without fishers preying on porcupines, porcupines could kill more trees than they otherwise would have, he said.
“Everything in the universe is connected to everything else,” Greenwald said.
The fisher kills porcupines with repeated bites to the face, devouring the porcupine via the quill-less underbelly. Where fisher reintroductions have been successful, porcupines have indeed declined in number, according to Greenwald.
Fishers are omnivores that not only hunt, but eat carion, nuts, insects, berries and mushrooms.
0 comments:
Post a Comment