Efforts to protect the once-endangered Newfoundland pine marten have proven successful—so-much-so recent population assessments show that its now threatened status could once again be downlisted to vulnerable.

The Newfoundland pine marten, which has been protected since 1934, is a subspecies of the American pine marten. It is one of 14 land mammal species native to Newfoundland.

COSEWIC’s latest assessment results show the animal is doing well, and a recommendation will be made to have the species downlisted on the Endangered Species List.

Senior Manager of Wildlife Research with the Department of Fisheries, Forestry and Agriculture, Shelley Moores says when serious action started being taken to protect the species’ old-growth habitat, and changes were made to snares—everyone, from residents, to trappers, and even forestry and mining companies got on board.

That, says Moores, appears to have made a real difference.

“Everybody was involved in the recovery of that species,” she says. A recommendation will be made this fall, which could lead to the further downlisting of Newfoundland pine marten as vulnerable. Then she says work will need to continue to keep improving marten populations.