Objectives of the Fisher Habitat Extension

Fishers (Martes pennanti) are carnivores of the weasel family that rely on many fea-tures of late-successional forests to survive and reproduce. Fishers are considereda species at risk in British Columbia under the Identified Wildlife Management Strategy of the Forest and Range Practices Act 2004 and is also considered a “species of special concern ” (blue-listed) by BC’s Conservation Data Centre. Under BC’s Forest and Range Practices Act 2004, forest licensees are re-quired to maintain key habitat features for fishers within their tenures. Many late-successional forests in BC are tar-geted for timber harvest and other forestry activi-ties, which can have negative impacts on the ability of the forest landscape to support fishers. Recognizing that fishers use habitat resources at spatial scales ranging from elements (e.g., tree cavities, rust brooms) to landscapes, a number of options are available to forest practitioners to make forestry decisions that help conserve fisher habitat at each of these scales. Recent research on fishers has identified many opportunities for forest licensees to incorporate de-cisions that may positively affect the conservation and supply of habitat for fishers during all phases of forest management (planning, harvesting, re-generation/post-harvest treatments)