To save the endangered spotted owl from possible extinction, US wildlife officials A controversial plan is underway to deploy trained marksmen into dense forests on the West Coast to kill up to half a million barred owls that are decimating the numbers of their cousins.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s strategy, released Wednesday, aims to boost dwindling spotted owl populations in Oregon, Washington state and California. The Associated Press previously obtained the details.
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Documents released by the agency show that about 450,000 barred owls will be shot over three decades after the birds from the eastern U.S. encroached on the West Coast range of two owls: the northern spotted owl and the California spotted owl. The smaller spotted owls have been unable to compete with the invaders, which have larger broods and require less space to survive than spotted owls.
Wildlife technician Jordan Hazan records data in the lab after shooting a male barred owl in Corvallis, Ore., on Oct. 24, 2018. U.S. wildlife officials want to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls in the coming decades under a controversial plan to help the spotted owl population. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Previous attempts to save Spotted owl The focus on protecting the forests where they live has led to fierce battles over deforestation, but has also helped halt the decline of the birds. Officials say a rise in the number of striped owls in recent years has undermined earlier work.
“Without actively managing barred owls, northern spotted owls will likely become extinct from all or most of their range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Kesina Lee, Oregon State Supervisor, Fish and Wildlife Service.
The notion of killing one bird species to save another has divided wildlife advocates and conservationists. It is reminiscent of past government efforts that killed sea lions and cormorants that prey on the fish to save salmon on the West Coast, and cowbirds that lay eggs in warbler nests to save warblers.
Some advocates reluctantly embraced the strategy of removing barred owls; others said it was a reckless diversion from essential forest conservation.
Wayne Pacelle, founder of the advocacy group Animal Wellness Action, said, “The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to oppressor of wildlife.” He predicted the program would fail because the agency would be unable to prevent more barred owls from moving into areas where others have been killed.
Shooting will likely begin next spring, officials said. The owls will be lured using megaphones to broadcast their recorded sounds, then shot with shotguns. The bodies will be buried on site.
Robin Bowen, barred owl strategy leader for the Fish and Wildlife Service, said the birds are already being killed by researchers in some spotted owl habitats, with about 4,500 removed since 2009. Those targeted included barred owls in California’s Sierra Nevada region, where the animals have recently arrived and officials want to prevent the population from growing.
In other areas where barred owls are found in high numbers, officials aim to reduce their numbers, but they acknowledge that shooting the owls will not eliminate them completely.
Supporters include the American Bird Conservancy and other conservation groups.
Barred owls are not native to the West, said Steve Holmer, vice president of the American Bird Conservancy. Killing them is unfortunate, but reducing their numbers could allow them to co-exist with spotted owls for a long time, he said.
“As older forests are allowed to grow back, hopefully coexistence will be possible and maybe we won’t need to do as much logging,” Holmer said.
Officials said these killings would reduce the number of North American barred owls by less than 1% annually. This could be comparable to the extinction of spotted owls if the problem is not addressed.
Because striped owls are aggressive predators, removing them could also help other West Coast species, such as salamanders and crayfish, which they have been preying on, said Tom Wheeler, director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, a California-based conservation group.
The public will not be allowed to hunt barred owls. The Wildlife Service will designate government agencies, landowners, American Indian tribes or companies to conduct the hunt. Hunters must submit documentation of training or experience in owl identification and firearms skills.
Publication of a final environmental study on the proposal in the coming days will open a 30-day comment period before a final decision is made.
The spotted owl plan comes after decades of conflict between conservationists and timber companies that have been cutting down vast areas of old-growth forests where spotted owls live.
Initial efforts to save the birds resulted in a logging ban in the 1990s, infuriating the timber industry and its political backers in Congress.
Still, the spotted owl population has continued to decline since barred owls first appeared on the West Coast several decades ago. Katherine Fitzgerald, who leads the wildlife service’s northern spotted owl recovery program, said at least half of the spotted owls across the region have disappeared, with declines of 75% or more in some study areas.
Opponents say that mass killing of barred owls would cause serious disruption to forest ecosystems and could cause other species – including spotted owls – to be accidentally shot. They have also challenged the notion that barred owls do not live on the West Coast, and have described their expansion as a natural ecological phenomenon.
The researchers say striped owls moved west along two routes: through the Great Plains, where trees planted by immigrants gave them a foothold in new areas; or through Canada’s boreal forests, which have become more favorable as temperatures rise due to climate change.
Northern spotted owls are protected by the federal government as a threatened species. Federal officials determined in 2020 that they should be upgraded to the more significant designation of “endangered” because of their continued decline. But the Fish and Wildlife Service declined to do so at the time, saying other species should be given priority.
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Last year, California spotted owls were proposed for federal protection. A decision is pending.
under Former President Donald TrumpIn the 1980s, government officials removed habitat protections for spotted owls at the behest of the timber industry. They were reinstated under President Joe Biden after the Interior Department said political appointees under Trump relied on flawed science to weaken the protections.
