Assessing wildlife value of slash piles including implications for martens and fishers

Principal Investigator: Katie Moriarty, PhD, NCASI / Senior Research Scientist Western Forest Wildlife Ecologist

Supported by: Western Trade Association Member Companies

Project Summary: Slash piles or windrows may increase connectivity for forest-associated wildlife species while potentially increasing available prey for predators. This project explores opportunities for increased conservation value on working forest landscapes for martens and fishers in Northern Californian and the southern Oregon coast. It will test whether piles are impacting small mammal populations or providing increased prey diversity or abundance. Quantifying piles as locations for resting, foraging, or both would provide legitimate direction for constructing future piles in areas where goals include both conservation benefit to marten and fisher and sustainable harvest of forest products.

Project Updates:
February 2021

Contact Katie Moriarty at kmoriarty@ncasi.org