U.S. Fish and Wildlife to Move Forward with Owl Massacre

In a deeply troubling development for wildlife conservation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has officially announced its decision to proceed with the mass slaughter of barred owls across the Pacific Northwest, set to begin this spring.

The final plan calls for killing up to half a million barred owls over the next thirty years in a misguided effort to protect endangered northern spotted owls.

Spotted owls have lost habitat due to logging of old-growth forests, while barred owls expanded into the Pacific Northwest as new growth forests spread across the Great Plains. Wildfires and climate change have further pushed barred owls into spotted owl habitats, yet conservation plans have grossly failed to address the human-related causes of the issues facing northern spotted owls.

Wildlife conservationists have spoken out against the planned killing of hundreds of thousands of owls, with many skeptical that the massive slaughter will even achieve the desired effects of spotted owl population recovery.

Far too often, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fails to act in the best interests of wildlife. This is just the newest in a long list of shocking examples of this federal department making short-sighted and poorly considered decisions that punish animals for human-created problems. They can and should do better.

Please help us keep bringing attention to this issue by sharing our petition with your networks. We cannot let this mass murder of birds get swept under the rug!