To save spotted owls, US officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of another owl species

Matthew Brown, Associated Press

To prevention nan imperiled spotted owl from imaginable extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious scheme to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to termination almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding retired their cousins.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service strategy released Wednesday is meant to prop up declining spotted owl populations successful Oregon, Washington authorities and California. The Associated Press obtained specifications successful advance.

Documents released by nan agency show up to astir 450,000 barred owls would beryllium changeable complete 3 decades aft nan birds from nan eastbound U.S. encroached into nan West Coast territory of 2 owls: bluish spotted owls and California spotted owls. The smaller spotted owls person been incapable to compete pinch nan invaders, which person ample broods and request little room to past than spotted owls.

Past efforts to prevention spotted owls focused connected protecting nan forests wherever they live, sparking bitter fights complete logging but besides helping slow nan birds’ decline. The proliferation of barred owls successful caller years is undermining that earlier work, officials said.

“Without actively managing barred owls, bluish spotted owls will apt spell extinct successful each aliases nan mostly of their range, contempt decades of collaborative conservation efforts,” said Fish and Wildlife Service Oregon authorities supervisor Kessina Lee.

The conception of sidesplitting 1 vertebrate type to prevention different has divided wildlife advocates and conservationists. It’s reminiscent of past authorities efforts to prevention West Coast salmon by sidesplitting oversea lions and cormorants that prey connected nan fish, and to sphere warblers by sidesplitting cowbirds that laic eggs successful warbler nests.

Some advocates grudgingly accepted nan barred owl removal strategy; others said it’s reckless diversion from needed wood preservation.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service is turning from protector of wildlife to persecutor of wildlife,” said Wayne Pacelle, laminitis of nan defense group Animal Wellness Action. He predicted nan programme would neglect because nan agency won’t beryllium capable to support much barred owls from migrating into areas wherever others person been killed.

The shootings would apt statesman adjacent spring, officials said. Barred owls would beryllium lured utilizing megaphones to broadcast recorded owl calls, past changeable pinch shotguns. Carcasses would beryllium buried connected site.

The birds already are being killed by researchers successful immoderate spotted owl habitats, pinch astir 4,500 removed since 2009, said Robin Bown, barred owl strategy leader for nan Fish and Wildlife Service. Those targeted included barred owls successful California’s Sierra Nevada region, wherever nan animals person only precocious arrived and officials want to extremity populations from taking hold.

In different areas wherever barred owls are much established, officials purpose to trim their numbers but admit shooting owls is improbable to destruct them entirely.

Supporters see nan American Bird Conservancy and different conservation groups.

Barred owls don’t beryllium successful nan West, said American Bird Conservancy Vice President Steve Holmer. Killing them is unfortunate, he added, but reducing their numbers could let them to unrecorded alongside spotted owls complete nan agelong term.

“As nan aged forests are allowed to regrow, hopefully coexistence is imaginable and possibly we don’t request to do arsenic much” shooting, Holmer said.

The killings would trim North American barred owl numbers by little than 1% annually, officials said. That compares pinch imaginable extinction for spotted owls, should nan problem spell unaddressed.

Because barred owls are fierce hunters, removing them besides could thief different West Coast type that they’ve been preying connected specified arsenic salamanders and crayfish, said Tom Wheeler, head of nan Environmental Protection Information Center, a California-based conservation group.

Public hunting of barred owls wouldn’t beryllium allowed. The wildlife work would designate authorities agencies, landowners, American Indian tribes aliases companies to transportation retired nan killings. Shooters would person to supply archiving of training aliases acquisition successful owl recognition and firearm skills.

The publishing successful nan coming days of a last biology study connected nan connection will unfastened a 30-day remark play earlier a last determination is made.

The barred owl scheme follows decades of conflict betwixt conservationists and timber companies, which trim down immense areas of older forests wherever spotted owls reside.

Early efforts to prevention nan birds culminated successful logging bans successful nan 1990s that roiled nan timber manufacture and its governmental supporters successful Congress.

Yet spotted owl populations continued declining aft barred owls started showing up connected nan West Coast respective decades ago. Across nan region astatine slightest half of spotted owls person been lost, pinch declines of 75% aliases much successful immoderate study areas, said Katherine Fitzgerald, who leads nan wildlife service’s bluish spotted owl betterment program.

Opponents opportunity nan wide sidesplitting of barred owls would origin terrible disruption to wood ecosystems and could lead to different type — including spotted owls — being mistakenly shot. They’ve besides challenged nan conception that barred owls don’t beryllium connected nan West Coast, characterizing their expanding scope arsenic a earthy ecological phenomenon.

Researchers opportunity barred owls moved westward by 1 of 2 routes: crossed nan Great Plains, wherever trees planted by settlers gave them a foothold successful caller areas; aliases via Canada’s boreal forests, which person go much hospitable arsenic temperatures emergence because of ambiance change.

Northern spotted owls are federally protected arsenic a threatened species. Federal officials wished successful 2020 that their continued diminution merited an upgrade to nan much captious nickname of “endangered.” But nan Fish and Wildlife Service refused to do truthful astatine nan time, saying different type took priority.

California spotted owls were projected for national protections past year. A determination is pending.

Under erstwhile President Donald Trump, authorities officials stripped residence protections for spotted owls astatine nan behest of nan timber industry. Those were reinstated nether President Joe Biden aft nan Interior Department said governmental appointees nether Trump relied connected faulty subject to warrant their weakening of protections.

A Northern Spotted Owl flies aft an elusive rodent jumping disconnected nan extremity of a instrumentality connected May 8, 2003, successful nan Deschutes National Forest adjacent Camp Sherman, Ore. To prevention nan imperiled spotted owl from imaginable extinction, U.S. wildlife officials are embracing a contentious scheme to deploy trained shooters into dense West Coast forests to termination almost a half-million barred owls that are crowding retired their smaller cousins. Don Ryan, Associated Press file