Fur trade Russia exported raw furs, consisting in most cases of the pelts of martens, beavers, wolves, foxes, squirrels and hares. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Russians began to settle in Siberia, a region rich in many mammal fur species, such as Arctic fox, lynx, sable, sea otter and stoat (ermine). In a search for the prized sea otter pelts, first used in China, and later for the northern fur seal, the Russian Empire expanded into North America, notably Alaska. From the 17th through the second half of the 19th century, Russia was the world's largest supplier of fur. The fur
Humboldt marten and by human-caused mortalities, including trapping and road mortality. While California has already banned all commercial trapping of martens, Oregon still permits it. In response, environmental organizations seek a ban on trapping west of Interstate 5. However, in California itself the marten is threatened by the increasing number of marijuana farms destroying its habitat in the area. Humboldt marten The Humboldt marten ("Martes americana humboldtensis or Martes caurina humboltensis") is an endangered, genetically distinct subspecies of the American marten known only from the old-growth coastal redwood forests of the U.S. states of California and Oregon. Less than 300 of them