Wildlife

The AFR Partnership is recording changes in population size and habitat use of key wildlife species throughout the course of the project.

AFR at work, two people holding a small animal; owl, photo by Rick McEwan; Pacific fisher

The Pacific fisher, a sensitive species and candidate for Federal Listing in 2014, is of special interest to wildlife biologists. Radio tracking efforts here in the Ashland Watershed have given insight into the way these animals behave, including their response to forest thinning operations, guiding how buffer areas are created to limit deleterious impacts from operations. Read about efforts to protect this species during AFR operations (PDF).

A total of 94 people assisted the Forest Service in monitoring the Pacific fisher from 2010 to 2013, contributing roughly 1,800 volunteer hours over the last three years. Roughly 10 people assisted with flying squirrel trap monitoring, equivalent to about 80 volunteer hours.

Chipmunk; ground bird's nest; western blue-tailed skink

In early spring, 2012, The Klamath Bird Observatory (KBO) was contracted by The Nature Conservancy to conduct bird point-count transects in areas where commercial thinning was to occur later in the year. These observations build on KBO's annual mist netting and banding of songbird populations to monitor population trends, breeding success, health, and longevity, allowing evaluation of treatment impacts on bird habitats and communities.

Volunteers from the community work with US Forest Service scientists to monitor population size and habitat use of Northern Spotted Owl, Pacific Fisher, and arboreal rodents, including the Northern Flying Squirrel. These wildlife species are dependent on late-successional forests.  Research helps to inform partners about the ways that forest treatments impact wildlife.