It would also allow logging to degrade potential fisher habitat throughout the Sierra by removing medium-large trees and reducing forest canopy closure below levels required by the fisher. Alternative 8 is preferable to Alternative 6 because it would protect currently occupied fisher habitat in the southern Sierra Nevada. Neither Alternative 6 nor Alternative 8 would protect all remaining old growth forests in the Sierra Nevada. The fisher has a long, slender body with short legs. Its head is triangular, with a sharp, pronounced muzzle and large, rounded ears.
Fishers are mostly brown, with a long bushy tail.
Males range up to 47 inches in length, while females typically only reach 37 inches. Fishers run in a bounding gait, with their front feet leaping forward together, followed by the back feet. Unlike other carnivores, such as cats and dogs, fishers walk on their whole foot.