Fisher (animal) - Distribution

Distribution

Fishers are widespread throughout the northern forests of North America. They are found from Nova Scotia in the east to the Pacific shore of British Columbia and Alaska. They can be found as far north as Great Slave Lake in the North West Territories and as far south as the mountains of Oregon. There are isolated populations in the Sierra Nevada of California and the Appalachians of West Virginia. They were once more widespread in the United States Midwest, but over-trapping and loss of habitat has reduced their traditional range.

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, fishers were virtually eliminated from the southern and eastern parts of their range including most American states and eastern Canada including Nova Scotia. Over-trapping and logging were to blame for the decline, since roads created for logging allowed trappers to penetrate further into interior forests.

Fishers were once extirpated from most of New England, though in the 1900s they were slowly making a comeback. Now, they can be found as far south as southeastern Connecticut and northern Rhode Island, as far east as Cape Cod, and as far west as Lake Ontario in New York.

Most states had placed restrictions on fisher trapping by the 1930s, coincidental with the end of the logging boom. A combination of forest regrowth in abandoned farm lands and management practices increased available habitat and allowed remnant populations to recover. Between 1955 and 1985, many states had allowed limited trapping to resume. In some areas, fishers were reintroduced to allow for faster recovery. Reintroductions were often done to control porcupine populations. In areas where fishers were eliminated, porcupine populations subsequently increased. Areas with a high density of porcupines were found to have extensive damage to timber crops. Once fishers were introduced, porcupine populations were then reduced to natural levels.

Scattered fisher populations now exist in the Pacific Northwest, mostly the result of reintroductions by government agency partnerships with timber companies who wanted to re-introduce fishers to decrease Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum) damage to their conifer plantations. In 1961 fishers from British Columbia and Minnesota were re-introduced in Oregon to the southern Cascades near Klamath Falls and also to the Wallowa Mountains near La Grande. From 1977-1980 fishers were introduced to the region around Crater Lake. In January 2008, fishers were reintroduced into the Olympic National Park in Washington State. As of 1998 fisher trapping had still not resumed in this area. From 2008 to 2011, about 40 fishers were re-introduced in the northern Sierra Nevada near Stirling City, complementing fisher populations in Yosemite National Park and along California's northern boundary between the Pacific Coast Range and the Klamath Mountains. Fishers are a protected species in Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. In Idaho and California, fishers are protected through a closed trapping season, but they are not afforded any specific protection.

Recent studies, as well as anecdotal evidence, suggest that fishers have begun making inroads into suburban backyards, farmland, and peri-urban areas in several U.S. states and eastern Canada.