Like a lot of creatures, the West Coast Fisher is not as abundant as it once was. The furry mustelid (like a weasel; it's not a "fisher cat") was proposed for Endangered Species Act protection years ago, and the federal government agreed the protection was needed.
But then the feds opted just to protect the fisher population in the southern Sierra Nevada, instead of across the entire range the animal inhabits. The Center for Biological Diversity, Environmental Protection Information Center, and Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center beg to differ, and do so in a lawsuit filed in mid-September.
We get some specifics on fisher numbers, and challenges to them, from Noah Greenwald at CBD, George Sexton from KS Wild, and Thom Wheeler from EPIC.