HARRISBURG, Pa. (WTAJ) — The American Marten, also known as the Pine Marten, is a mammal that is mostly found throughout the northern United States and Canada. The forest-dwelling omnivore was once a native species of Pennsylvania but has not been seen in the state for well over 100 years.

Now in 2023, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has unveiled a plan to bring the American Marten back and is collecting feedback from several agencies and residents on the animal’s proposed return. The 10-year reintroduction and management plan is available for public review and comment until Nov. 15.

WTAJ spoke to Pennsylvania Game Commission Furbearer Biologist Thomas Keller about the plan, why it’s important and what the future may bring. Keller’s position at the Game Commission involves helping manage the 16 furbearer species that are present in Pennsylvania which include raccoons, opossums, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and more.

Our full interview with Thomas Keller can be watched in the video player below:

Why is the American Marten possibly coming back?

According to the Pennsylvania Game Commission Bureau of Wildlife Management, the American Marten was extirpated from the state more than 120 years ago right after the turn of the 20th century. Deforestation brought about by humans and unregulated hunting caused the animals to be removed from the state for good.

Keller said the Game Commission used a feasibility assessment to see if it would be possible to bring the Marten back.

“When we started to look at why or how could we bring Marten back, one of the first things to really think about was has the issues been rectified such as has the forest come back. So, we looked at habitat. Do we have Marten habitat in the state and indeed we do; primarily up in the PA Wilds region, the North Central and North West,” Keller said.

He then explained there are a lot of benefits the animal could provide to Pennsylvania’s ecosystem such as dispersing seeds throughout the forest and managing rodent populations.

The Marten is also a culturally important animal for Native American people in the state. Keller said the species was primarily used as a symbol of specific Native American clans and was also used in legends that were passed down over generations.

“This was important to many of the indigenous peoples that lived in this region and also still call Pennsylvania home and to many of our ancestry as well who helped settle Pennsylvania,” Keller said.

Keller added that Pennsylvania has led the way when it comes to reintroducing species that were lost and the American Marten is one of the last species the Game Commission had not considered until now.

Do Pennsylvanians support the American Marten?

The Game Commission started working on a plan in 2020 to bring the American Marten back to Pennsylvania. Through a three-year strategic plan, Keller said they’ve gradually progressed toward its proposed 10-year reintroduction and management plan.

“That plan has gone out for public review and comment and that comment period is open now through November 15th. That is really how all of our plans move forward is we make sure that they all go out for public review and comment,” Keller said.

Keller explained the Game Commission has conducted three different public opinion surveys over the past two years to understand if Pennsylvanians support reintroducing the Marten.

“What we see is that the large majority of Pennsylvanians support reintroduction of the American Marten back to the state. That even includes hunters which is often thought of as one of our main constituencies here with the Pennsylvania Game Commission,” Keller said.

While most are in support of the Game Commission’s plan, Keller said they have heard some concerns.

“There’s concerns because it is another predator on the landscape and how might that impact specifically game populations. There are some concerns about how this might impact domestic animals like pets or poultry. So these are all things that we really tried to address within the feasibility assessment and some of that was carried over into the management plan as well,” Keller said.

Keller said public feedback is important and he encourages residents to look through the plan to better understand everything in it and how they would go about reintroducing the American Marten.

“We’re really interested in hearing from people on the plan itself. Is there anything that we’re missing? Is there anything that we did do a very good job at covering or addressing concerns and making sure that people feel like their concerns have been addressed within that plan,” Keller said.

After the public review and comment period is over, the reintroduction and management plan will be presented to the Pennsylvania Board of Game Commissioners during a meeting in early January for final approval.

What is the American Marten reintroduction plan?

The first major step in the Game Commission’s plan to bring the American Marten back to Pennsylvania is to find places where a certain number of animals could be obtained. Keller explained they have spoken to biologists in other states and Canadian provinces about translocating Marten to PA.

“We’ve received letters of support from the state of Maine, the state of Michigan and the state of New York. So those folks would certainly be willing to consider providing us Marten and support the project,” Keller said.

The Game Commission plans to release the American Marten in five different release locations. For each location, Keller said at least 60 animals are needed in order to have a self-sustaining population.

“Our base starting founding population would be 60 Marten and then of course with five locations then we would be upwards of 300 total. With our timeline, we’re looking at a five-year release plan within our 10-year plan. So we would be trying to get 60 Marten per year from a variety of different states,” Keller said.

Keller added they would also communicate with project coordinators and with known Marten trappers in other states. The Game Commission would then provide them with the tools they need including box traps and holding boxes.

“Once they would be trapped by the trapper, they would go back to the coordinator in that location and to a temporary holding facility. They would get an initial health screening. Then once we would have a certain amount of Marten, we would move them to Pennsylvania,” Keller said.

The Game Commission will either drive the American Marten to PA or have them shipped using air freight depending on how far the journey is. Keller noted that air travel has been used to transport animals in the past.

When the animals arrive in Pennsylvania, Keller said they would be taken to another temporary holding facility where they would get another health screening and have DNA samples collected from them before they are released. A variety of Marten will also carry tracking devices with them.

“There is a lot that goes into it that I think folks probably don’t think about but it’s really important that we kinda lay it out in detail within the plan,” Keller said.

Have other states tried to reintroduce the American Marten?

The American Marten has been reintroduced 40 different times in North America. Keller said the large majority of them have been successful but not all have worked.

“The ones that haven’t, we’ve been able to learn from why they weren’t successful and it’s primarily because they didn’t release enough Marten. Often times the ones that failed would release a handful, like less than 10.”

Keller added that some reintroductions failed because the Marten was also not released in the best habitat. The Game Commission used this information to create a habitat model which helped them find release areas that were best suited for the animal.

Another American Marten reintroduction is taking place in Montana in the Rocky Mountains where the animal was also extirpated.

“The fortunate thing is we’re able to look at all this past experience and talk with folks that are doing it now and learn so much. That’s where we really pulled a lot of that good information to put into the plan to know how to do it successfully,” Keller said.

Can the American Marten survive in Pennsylvania’s warmer climate?

A major concern the Game Commission faced in its American Marten reintroduction plan was Pennsylvania’s slightly warmer climate compared to Marten’s natural habitat in the north. Keller said PA is on the southern periphery of the animal’s range but explained there are places within the state’s northern tier that will be suited for them.

“What was important is we looked into literature and we brought biologists in from other states particularly some of our mid-western or great lake states that have done Marten reintroduction kind of at that southern periphery to get an idea of do we have the right habitat. Then of course, what kind of snowfall do they need because snow can be very important to them,” Keller said.

The Game Commission factored Pennsylvania’s annual snowfall into its habitat model and found the areas in the state’s northern tier that get a fair amount of snow. Keller said they also looked at climate models in those areas to ensure the American Marten won’t disappear 100 years from now because of climate change.

“Based on what some of these climate models are telling us is that these areas of high elevation and varied topography, where we have strong topography, that’s really the areas that are most resistant to any kind of potential change in climate into the future,” Keller said.

Would the American Marten become available to hunt?

Most hunters in Pennsylvania are probably wondering if the American Marten would eventually become available to hunt and harvest. Keller said the Game Commission has taken a conservative approach when they’ve reintroduced a species and generally won’t allow a harvest season for many years.

A hunting season for Marten might not happen until a population is established to maintain a harvest. Keller explained that in some cases hunting seasons may never happen but added the Game Commission can gain a lot of information from harvest.

“When we think about how we manage furbearers in the state or deer or elk or bear or many of these other species, we actually get invaluable data from harvest. We are able to look at all of these different things like survival and reproduction and all the things that go into trying to manage a population,” Keller said.

Keller said the Game Commission is considering a hunting season in the future for Marten but explained that it could take some time for that to happen as the animal is a slow-growing species when it comes to population.

Why is the American Marten reintroduction project important to Thomas Keller?

When asked if he has a personal connection to the Amerian Marten reintroduction project, Keller admitted he didn’t know a lot about the animal until its proposed return. This motivated him to learn more about the Marten and Pennsylvania’s history of reintroducing animals.

“What I really found fascinating and really what tied me into this project is actually a lot of the history that we have as Pennsylvanians,” Keller said.

Over the past 100 years, Keller explained that Pennsylvania has led the nation in restoring wildlife. He said he’s looked to his grandparents’ generation when whitetail deer and turkeys were brought back to Pennsylvania and then to his parents’ generation when the bald eagle, paradigm falcon and river otter were brought back.

Keller added that all these species are now common in the state and hopes to do the same with the American Marten.

“Now we have the opportunity to reintroduce another species for the next generation that they’ll likely take for granted but we won’t because it wasn’t here and it’s not here. We can continue that legacy that we have as Pennsylvanians in rewilding the forests and the fields of our state,” Keller said.

Our full interview with Thomas Keller can be watched in the video player above.