A Controversial Conservation Effort
Washington, Oregon, and California are gearing up for a highly controversial wildlife management operation that aims to cull approximately 450,000 barred owls over the next three decades. The initiative, spearheaded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), is designed to save the Northern spotted owl, a species currently listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The plan, known as the Barred Owl Management Strategy, is the result of years of meticulous research and studies. The strategy is set to be implemented across multiple states on the West Coast and involves deploying “removal specialists” equipped with megaphones playing digitally recorded owl calls. These specialists will use a combination of “single-note… and two-phrase hoots” to attract the barred owls before shooting them with shotguns. The carcasses will be buried on-site to avoid disturbing the natural soil and ecosystem.
“The location should be out of sight of roads, trails, or human habitation. If this is not possible or advisable, carcasses may be transported to an appropriate disposal facility,” the plan specifies. “If transported from the removal site, carcasses must be tightly double-bagged to avoid the spread of disease.”
Urgency and implementation
The culling operation could commence as early as this fall, with full implementation expected by next spring. Public hunting of barred owls will be strictly prohibited during this period.
“All removal has to be done by trained removal specialists,” emphasized Robin Bown, leader of the barred owl management strategy development, in an interview with NBC. “Where firearms are not allowed or contraindicated – barred owls may be trapped and euthanized.”
The stakes and repercussions
The USFWS’s 2011 Northern Spotted Owl Recovery Plan identified barred owls as one of the two primary threats to the survival and recovery of Northern spotted owls, with habitat loss being the other. The comprehensive 330-page strategy aims to address these threats in the most effective and least harmful way possible.
“If we do nothing, we won’t have spotted owls,” Bridget Moran, Deputy State Supervisor of the USFWS Oregon Office, told NBC. “If we do something, we will have both.”
Official statement and public reaction
In its official record, the USFWS stated that the strategy “best meets the purpose and needed action and incorporates all practicable means to avoid or minimize environmental harm.” The agency emphasized the gravity of its decision: “The service does not reach this decision lightly.”
As the debate continues, the eyes of conservationists and the public alike are on the USFWS and its ambitious plan to balance the scales of nature in favor of the endangered Northern spotted owl.