By Brian Linder | blinder@pennlive.com Updated: Jan. 18, 2024, 5:07 a.m.
It’s a bushy-tailed creature with reddish fur that hasn’t lived naturally in Pennsylvania for more than 100 years.
That could change very soon.
That’s because when the Pennsylvania Game Commission meets later this month — Saturday, Jan. 27 — it is slated to decide on a plan for reintroduction of the American marten. WTAJ Altoona reported that three plans are up for consideration.
The Pa. Game Commission’s agenda for the meeting specifically mentions a 10-year reintroduction plan that will be up for final approval.
“We’ll be asking the board to accept those plans,” Pa. Game Commission Furbearer Biologist Thomas Keller told the station. “So if the board would accept the Marten plan, then that would give us the green light to begin moving forward with reintroduction. Of course, if the board would not accept the plan, then that’s where the project would end.
The Pa. Game Commission previously said that public support for reintroduction was at 92 percent.
And why not?
The Martens — described as “an interesting little predator” by National Parks Traveler — are kind of cute, and they are a neat member of the weasel family. The commission says they are about the size of a fox squirrel, and there was a time when they were really quite common here. They are omnivores who eat mice, insects, and plant material. It said the animals don’t typically pose a threat to wild turkeys.
Read the full story here plus a video
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