Fisher Listing Upheld

In an unpublished opinion issued on January 6, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a
decision by the Eastern District of California court that the FWS did not act arbitrarily and
capriciously in concluding that the West Coast range of the fisher constitutes a distinct
population segment and should be listed as a candidate species under the ESA. (Sierra Forest
Products v. Kempthorne.) The case, brought in 2007 by the Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf
of AFRC member Sierra Forest Products, was an attempt to overturn the agency's decision to list
the West Coast population of the fisher, which exists in most areas of the United States, as a
candidate species.
The west coast population of the fisher has been an ESA candidate species since 2004. Although
budget priorities have prevented the FWS from proceeding to determine whether or not the fisher
warrants listing as a threatened or endangered species, its candidate status has caused the courts
to block several timber sales in the Sequoia and Sierra National Forests. Despite apparent gaps in
its population within its overall range, the animal appears to be thriving on actively managed