In an effort to save two subspecies of spotted owls from extinction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) released its Draft Barred Owl Management Strategy and accompanying Draft Environmental Impact Statement in November 2023.

The northern spotted owl inhabits dense, old growth forests from southern British Columbia to northwestern California. In the past two decades, populations in some areas have declined by over 75%, in large part due to competition for territory and food from the barred owl, an invasive species from the eastern U.S.

The California spotted owl lives in similar habitat in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, coastal mountains south of the Bay area, and scattered areas in southern California. Its populations are currently less imperiled, but are vulnerable as the barred owl encroaches further southward into California.

A spotted (owl) history lesson

Longtime Pacific Northwest residents likely recall the spotted owl as a much-contested species during the Timber Wars of the 1980s and 1990s. Back then activists and scientists raised concerns that the logging of old growth forests was making survival challenging for the species, which is dependent upon the upper canopy of mature coniferous habitat for nesting sites and prey (primarily flying squirrels and voles).

The northern spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1990. By the mid 2000s, scientists became concerned about the explosive population growth of barred owls in spotted owl territories.

Barred owls had begun a westward expansion in the early 20th century, taking advantage of human-made changes to the Great Plains and Canada’s northern boreal forest. By the 1980s populations were established in the Pacific Northwest. Today, dense populations thrive in forests and are not an uncommon sight in urban and suburban parks.

Lethal control of the barred owl is essential to preserving the spotted owl, according to the USFWS strategy. It contains six proposed management alternatives: five are varied approaches to lethal control of barred owls, and one is to take no action. Lethal control means targeted shooting by experienced removal specialists who meet the strict criteria of the service.

“This is not public hunting,” says Robin Bown, the barred owl management strategy lead for USFWS. “This is not allowing people to go out hunting these birds.”

Although the two species look similar (approximately 17-19” in length, with brown and white markings) to the non-birder, their characteristics are not.

The slightly larger barred owl has the advantage of being a generalist predator who can thrive in a wider variety of habitats. It is also more aggressively territorial and reproduces annually, whereas the spotted owl breeds less frequently. These factors add up to a much lower probability of success for the spotted owl.

A range of perspectives

Wildlife experts have additional concerns about the barred owl’s effect on ecosystems.

“We’re worried about the integrity of food webs of these forests and I think barred owl management will help us with that,” says Katherine Fitzgerald, northern spotted owl recovery lead with USFWS. She said she is optimistic that “there’s a wide variety of other species – of both prey and competitors– that are likely to benefit from barred owl removal.”

Emilie Kohler, conservation biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said “There is the potential for barred owls to cause local extinctions of prey species that have not adapted alongside the barred owl over time, leaving the prey species naïve and vulnerable.”

Kohler also points out that barred owls prey on native species like the Douglas squirrel, northern flying squirrel and band-tailed pigeon that facilitate crucial ecosystem processes such as pollination and seed dispersal.

Trina Bayard, interim executive director of Audubon Washington, says “The plight of the Northern Spotted Owl is politically, socially, and ecologically complex and recovery of the species faces an increasingly narrow pathway to success. We are reviewing the strategy and associated draft Environmental Impact Statement and are consulting with our partners and chapters in the region to better understand and assess the implications of the proposed actions.”

Some critics argue that the USFWS focuses too much on lethal control and ignores other threats to the spotted owl like wildfire, climate change and continued timber harvest in spotted owl habitat.

The ethics of killing one species in order to preserve another is a fraught issue. Some scientists and organizations argue that it is acceptable while others maintain it is unconscionable.

“In the USFWS’s own words, barred owls will have to be ‘perpetually managed’ – i.e., killed – in order to ensure the survival of the spotted owl,” said Washington State-based Kate Barton, senior attorney for the Center for a Humane Economy.

“The idea that it might take a long time as a reason not to start always bothers me because we have a choice,” Bown said. “We can decide not to start in which case we’re choosing to allow the spotted owl to go extinct. That’s really the decision if you do no barred owl management.”

Dr. John Marzluff, emeritus professor of wildlife science at the University of Washington, acknowledges that barred owl management will be a slow process and a long-term commitment.

“But I see no reason to say that we shouldn’t try this,” Marzluff said. “Let’s see what kind of persistence it would take to make an impact.”

The service is currently reviewing input received during a two-month public comment period and it anticipates releasing a final decision this summer regarding which management method will be implemented.

“We take public comments very seriously,” Bown said. “We go through all of them to see if there’s any information on things that we didn’t consider or that we might not have made clear. This allows us to make tweaks to it, or to improve a description of something if people are confused by it.”

Learn more about the strategy here: https://www.fws.gov/project/barred-owl-management.

— By Clare McLean