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Sierra Club Appeals to US Forest Service to Protect Critical Pacific Fisher Habitat

Case Updates:

May 14, 2012

On May 14, the Sierra Club filed comments challenging the Forest Service's Revised Environmental Assessment for the Frog Project in the Sequoia National Forest.  The Frog Project is directly east of and adjacent to the Giant Sequoia National Monument and includes an estimated 1,436 acres in the Sequoia National Forest that provide critical habitat for the highly imperiled Pacific fisher.

The Project proposes extensive logging in an area where fishers are known to inhabit. Contrary to the Forest Service’s statements, it is likely that the Project may have significant effects on the Pacific fisher.  The Project does not properly evaluate the impacts of logging on denning sites, canopy cover and the fisher’s food chain. Therefore, the Forest Service must complete a comprehensive “environmental impact statement” (EIS) to properly evaluate and consider the cumulative impacts to the Pacific fisher.

The population of the Pacific fisher in the southern Sierra Nevada is extremely at risk. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the fisher is justified for listing under the Endangered Species Act. The Pacific fisher is among the most habitat-specific mammals in North America, and changes in the quality, quantity and distribution of available habitat will affect their range in California.

A victory in this case would require the US Forest Service to go back to the drawing board and change its approach to conserving critical wildlife habitat.

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See other "Promoting Resilient Habitats" cases.