By: Kloe Adams
Editorial Editor
The spotted owl is federally protected as a threatened species. In 2020, federal officials determined that the animal’s continuous decline merited an upgrade to a more critical designation: endangered. Barred owls, native to the eastern United States, encroached into the West Coast territory of two types of spotted owls, northern spotted owls and California spotted owls. Smaller spotted owls struggle to compete with the invading barred owls, which have large broods and need less room to survive than spotted owls.
To save the spotted owls from extinction, US wildlife officials plan to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests, killing up to 470,000 barred owls over three decades. Past efforts to prevent endangerment focused on protecting the forests where the spotted owls lived. However, the proliferation of barred owls is undermining that earlier work. “Without actively managing barred owls, northern spotted owls will likely go extinct in all or the majority of their range, despite decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Fish and Wildlife Service supervisor Kessina Lee.
Researchers say barred owls move westward by one of two routes: across the Great Plains, where settler-planted trees give them a foothold in new areas, and through Canada’s boreal forests, which have become more hospitable as temperatures rise due to climate change.
Critics of the barred owl removal plan argue eliminating such a large number of owls would damage the ecosystem. “The practical elements of the plan are unworkable, and its adverse collateral effects would ripple throughout these forest habitats,” according to Wayne Pacelle, founder of the advocacy group Animal Wellness Action. Pacelle added, “The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to persecutor of wildlife.” In addition to the mass killing of owls planned to take place, scientists are already killing barred owls in spotted owl habitats for research purposes; 4,500 have been removed since 2009. Targets included barred owls in California’s Sierra Nevada region where animals have only recently arrived and officials want to stop large populations from growing. Conservation groups such as American Bird Conservancy, on the other hand, publicly announced, “Our organizations stand in full support of barred owl removal as a necessary measure, together with increased habitat protections for all remaining mature and old-growth forests.” If critics fail to stop the mass killing, the shooting would likely begin next spring with barred owls lured by megaphones broadcasting owl calls. Hunters would proceed to shoot the owls with shotguns, and bury the owl carcasses on site.
(Sources: AP News and PBS)