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.
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 are a threat to 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 a 30-year period. 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 actually an invasive species, but rather, 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.
What is the Barred Owl Management Strategy?
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.
Not the first time alarms have been sounded
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 properly analyze the impacts of their strategy 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.