12/18/2024

N. WISCONSIN - Wisconsin’s only endangered mammal, the American Marten has received a leg up from the Federal Department of the Interior. The Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission has awarded over $800K for recovery of the reclusive and rare resident. At one time, Martens were trapped for their fur and the practice of managing forests and woodlands to meet the needs of society and landowners as well as logging have altered the Marten’s habitat. The grant money, from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s America The Beautiful Challenge – will allow collaboration between federal, state, tribal, and academic agencies and groups over four years. They’ll create a forest management proposal – with recommended habitat improvements for marten recovery in Wisconsin. This year, for the first time in a century, martens were spotted on Lake Superior’s Madeline Island in northern Wisconsin.