There's a plan to kill thousands of owls in California. Some lawmakers want to stop it.

Yahoo

11-03-2025

A group of 19 lawmakers signed a bipartisan letter last week, asking the federal government to halt a plan that aims to kill tens of thousands of barred owls along the West Coast, including in California.
In a letter addressed to U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on March 7, lawmakers urged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to stop all spending on its Barred Owl Management Strategy. Introduced last year, the plan aims to kill 450,000 invasive barred owls, which threaten the region's native spotted owl.
The letter claims that about $3,000 would be needed to kill one owl, resulting in more than $1.35 billion over 30 years. The Barred Owl Management Strategy does not provide financial specifics.
"This is an inappropriate and inefficient use of U.S. taxpayer dollars," the letter states.
In addition to funding, the letter claims that a wildlife control plan like the Barred Owl Management Strategy has no precedent for success and that barred owls are not an invasive species but a part of a dynamic ecosystem.
"While we do not comment on congressional correspondence, the U.S. Department of the Interior takes all correspondence from Congress seriously and carefully reviews each matter. Should there be any updates on this topic, we will provide further information at the appropriate time," the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said in a statement shared with USA TODAY.
Can't access the above PDF? Visit scribd.com/document/837989052/U-S-Department-of-the-Interior-Barred-Owl-Letter.
Finalized in August 2024, the Barred Owl Management Strategy is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's long-term plan to protect native spotted owls in Washington, Oregon, and California from the invasive barred owl species.
The northern spotted owl, native to the West Coast region, has been endangered since 1990. The species is listed as Near Threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and according to the American Bird Conservancy, only about 15,000 spotted owls remain in the U.S.
Barred owls, larger and more aggressive than spotted owls, have been invading the West Coast region since the 20th century, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Barred owls displace spotted owls, disrupt their nesting, compete for food, and, in some cases, have interbred or killed spotted owls.
The Barred Owl Management Strategy permits the lethal removal of barred owls by attracting the owls with recorded calls and then shooting them when they respond and approach. In areas where firearms are not allowed, barrel owls may be captured and euthanized. These procedures will be conducted in less than half of the identified regions − more than 24 million acres − and may only be completed by specialists, not the general public.
"The protocol is based on the experience gathered from several previous barred owl removal studies and is designed to ensure a quick, humane kill; minimize the potential for non-fatal injury to barred owls; and vastly reduce the potential for non-target species injury or death," the strategy reads.
Republican Rep. Troy E. Nehls of Texas
Democrat Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California
Democrat Rep. Josh Harder of California
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Democrat Rep. Troy A. Carter, Sr. of Louisiana
Republican Rep. Jefferson Van Drew of New Jersey
Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee
Republican Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania
Republican Rep. Andrew Ogles of Tennessee
Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas
Democrat Rep. Donald G. Davis of North Carolina
Republican Rep. Tony Wied of Wisconsin
Democrat Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. of California
Democrat Rep. Lois Frankel of Florida
Democrat Rep. Summer L. Lee of Pennsylvania
Democrat Rep. Deborah K. Ross of North Carolina
Republican Rep. Scott Fitzgerald of Wisconsin
Republican Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Republican Anna Paulina Luna of Florida
The lawmakers' letter is not the first time the Barred Owl Management Strategy has received pushback.
In November, Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy filed a lawsuit in Seattle, Washington, challenging the plan. The environmental organizations claimed that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to analyze the impacts of their strategy properly and improperly rejecting reasonable alternatives. The lawsuit remains underway.
The organizations then, in December, asked President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to examine and terminate the plan, according to an Animal Wellness Action news release.
The largest of the three spotted owl subspecies, Northern spotted owl owls live in forests in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and northern California, according to All About Birds. They are often found in the Cascade Range.
While a precise number isn't available due to varying survey methods, estimates suggest between 3,000 and 5,00 Northern Spotted Owls remain in California. The rest of the animals live in Washington and Oregon.
Barred owls are more common in the eastern U.S., but have expanded their range in the 20th century to include parts of Washington, Oregon, and California, according to All About Birds. It's estimated there are about 100,000 Barred owls in Washington, Oregon, and northern California.
The northern spotted owl has a specific set of needs, including old growth, open canopy forests and an abundance of food. They primarily eat small rodents — such as northern flying squirrels, red tree voles, and woodrats.
Barred owls, on the other hand, will 'eat anything that moves in the forest, including amphibians, small mammals and a lot of sensitive bird species,' Wiens said.
To the uninitiated, the two owls look similar.
Northern spotted owls are considered medium-sized owls, usually about 1.5 feet (0.4 meters) in length with a wingspan of up to four feet (1.2 meters). Barred owls areslightly larger.
Northern spotted owls have dark chocolate-brown feathers with horizontal white spots.Barred owls are light grey with vertical brown stripes.
Barred owls are 'fiercely territorial.' They tend to drive out other apex predators from any area they call home.
In the areas where northern spotted owls still exist, Wienssaid he has witnessed as many as five nesting pairs of barred owls for every single pair of northern spotted owls.
The invasive barred owls also have proved more successful at rearing young. They often fledge two to three owlets a season. Northern spotted owl pairs may only rear a single owlet or skip a season altogether.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Lawmakers ask Trump administration to halt barred owls killing