By Brenna Galdenzi
It shouldn’t have to come to this. Why does it take Protect Our Wildlife (POW), an all-volunteer Vermont nonprofit, to petition Vermont Fish & Wildlife to get them to protect Vermont’s imperiled wildlife? Fish and Wildlife is well aware that the fisher population is in danger due to rodenticide poisoning and other threats, however they still allow a recreational trapping season with no limit on the number of animals that may be killed. According to their own data, the population is trending downwards.
The Fish and Wildlife furbearer biologist, Brehan Furfey, testified before the Senate Agriculture committee in February 2024 concerning rodenticide. You can view her brief testimony on POW’s YouTube page at the 42 second mark where she states that all of the fisher samples tested positive for rodenticide poisoning. Despite this, in addition to the recreational trapping season, Fish and Wildlife also allows year-round killing of fisher and other animals labeled as “furbearer” species under the dangerously permissive “wild animals causing damage” statute, title 10 V.S.A. §4828.
A POW Board member, who also has a Masters in Conservation Biology, spent the last few months analyzing data and took a deep dive into the issue. She shared her findings in a report that she submitted to the Fish & Wildlife Department and Board (the report can be found on Fish and Wildlife’s website). There is no green-washing the issue: 100% of fisher recently sampled tested positive for rodenticide poisoning.
The fisher (Pekania pennanti) is a carnivorous forest-dwelling mammal native to North America. It is a member of the Mustelid (weasel) family and is closely related to the American marten, an endangered species in Vermont. Traps that are set for fisher also place protected marten in direct danger (which is another reason to stop the trapping of fisher). A trap set for fisher cannot differentiate between the intended target and a look-alike species, the marten.
Fisher are a vital predator species who perform an outsized role of keeping small mammal and rodent populations in check. They are an important contributor to healthy ecosystems. There is no biological imperative to kill them. There is, however, empirical evidence to protect them.
The petition will be heard on Wednesday October 16th at 5pm. Will Fish & Wildlife seek to downplay the threats and obfuscate what is a clear decline in population or will they take this opportunity and reach across the aisle and do what is right?
Brenna Galdenzi is President of Protect Our Wildlife (POW) and is a resident of Stowe