Barred Owl Management Strategy Position

Northern Spotted Owl | Sylvia Hunt | Audubon Photography Awards

A Crisis of Our Own Making

Northern Spotted Owls are in crisis, especially in Washington State. Populations here have declined by 75-80% since the mid-90s. Thankfully, they are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which was written to help prevent extinction of America’s wildlife. 

The Endangered Species Act obligates our federal government to reduce threats to protected species. It has been 99% successful at preventing extinction of listed species,¹ helping to bring back Bald Eagles, Peregrine Falcons, Brown Pelicans, and many others.

Historically, habitat loss due to destructive logging practices was the main driver of Northern Spotted Owl decline. More recently, they have become seriously threatened by competition with Barred Owls, which only arrived in Western Washington in the 1970s. Now, the heartbreaking reality appears to be that without lethal Barred Owl removal, the Northern Spotted Owl will be extirpated–locally extinct–from large swaths of its range and likely to face complete extinction.

The US Fish & Wildlife Service is obligated to reduce the threat posed by competition with Barred Owls. After nearly two decades of study and planning, they released a draft Barred Owl Management Strategy and analyzed several implementation alternatives. Their preferred alternative would lethally remove approximately 500,000 Barred Owls over a thirty year period from priority areas in Washington, Oregon, and California. This contrasts with a “no action” strategy in which no Barred Owls would be harmed, with the result that Northern Spotted Owls would decline to just a few small populations that would eventually be wiped out by wildfire or disease.

Either alternative is terrible to contemplate. Deciding which to support comes down to values. Which do we value more? The persistence of a unique branch on the tree of life, or the individual suffering of a slaughtered Barred Owl? Which is worse? The slow starvation and irreversible elimination of an entire species, or the quick but perpetual killing of thousands of Barred Owls?

After weeks of consideration and consultation with colleagues, scientists, conservationists, and leaders from other chapters, Birds Connect Seattle submitted a letter to US Fish & Wildlife Service expressing conditional support for their plan to lethally remove Barred Owls in priority areas across its range. This was a difficult decision, and not one that we made lightly.

It is gut-wrenching to consider the scale of sustained violence proposed against individual Barred Owls in our forests, but their global population will remain stable, perhaps even continue to increase. Meanwhile, the Northern Spotted Owl sits on the brink. We believe we must face the consequences of our actions and save the Northern Spotted Owl from extinction while we still can.

Legacy of Northern Spotted Owl Advocacy

Few people today actually have first-hand experience with a Northern Spotted Owl. A century of logging old-growth forest took a heavy toll on the owls. Their population has declined by as much as 90% across their range since European settlement.² Members of Birds Connect Seattle, then operating as Seattle Audubon, noticed the decline in the 1970s and 80s and began advocating for their protection.³ In 1987, our organization petitioned the US Government to list the Northern Spotted Owl under the Endangered Species Act. In 1990, the Northern Spotted Owl was designated as Threatened. 

Throughout the 1990s, Birds Connect Seattle continued to advocate for the Northern Spotted Owl. We were plaintiffs on at least five lawsuits against the US Forest Service challenging destructive timber harvesting practices in Northern Spotted Owl habitat.⁴ These and other suits ultimately led to the Northwest Forest Plan, developed by ten federal agencies to better protect endangered forest species in the Pacific Northwest while producing predictable and sustainable levels of forest resources. The plan was enacted in 1994, reducing logging to a quarter of its prior rate.⁵

Thirty years after implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan, Northern Spotted Owl populations are still in decline. The highest rates are closest to home: Washington populations have fallen by 75-80% since 1995.⁶ There are only 126 Northern Spotted Owl pairs estimated to be left in our state.⁷ 

While habitat loss and fragmentation remains a problem for Northern Spotted Owls, their populations are now threatened by competition with Barred Owls, a sister species and a new arrival to Pacific Northwest ecosystems.

Species are Not Interchangeable

Northern Spotted Owls and Barred Owls have a lot in common. They are both territorial forest owls in the genus Strix. Their coloration and patterning is similar, and they share the same big, dark eyes for hunting at night. 

Though alike in appearance and ecological niche, Barred Owls are not equivalent to Northern Spotted Owls. Barred Owls are larger and stronger. They prey upon the same small mammals that Northern Spotted Owls do, but also take frogs, salamanders, crayfish, insects, and worms.⁸ In part due to their more varied diet, Barred Owls require a smaller home range and can occupy forests more densely. They use a greater range of habitat types than Northern Spotted Owls, breed more frequently, and fledge more young.⁹ 

Until the mid-20th century, a Northern Spotted Owl would never have had to compete with a Barred Owl; the former was restricted to Western North America and the latter to the east, with the Great Plains and icy north keeping the two apart. 

When European settlers expanded across North America, they planted trees across the plains in towns and shelterbelts. At the same time, they killed Indigenous people and prevented Indigenous fire practices that helped maintain prairies. They killed large numbers of bison and beavers that suppressed tree growth. And greenhouse gasses from an increasingly carbonized, industrial society warmed the climate.

As tree density increased across the plains and the climate to the north became more hospitable, Barred Owls expanded across the continent. They reached Eastern Washington in 1965 and Western Washington in 1973.¹⁰ Barred Owls now co-occur with Northern Spotted Owls across most of the latter’s range, from British Columbia to Northern California.

Where they share habitat, Barred Owls easily outcompete and displace Northern Spotted Owls. The competitive pressure is so intense, that biologists predict that Northern Spotted Owls will soon go extinct from large swaths of their range unless efforts are taken to manage Barred Owls.¹¹

Northern Spotted Owl | Paul Stiles | Audubon Photography Awards

Evaluating Alternatives 

Over the course of nearly two decades, the US Fish & Wildlife Service considered strategies to manage Barred Owls in Washington, California, and Oregon. They considered trapping and transporting live birds to areas of their original range. State agencies in the eastern US were not interested; their woods are already full of Barred Owls. 

The US Fish & WIldlife Service considered permanent captivity. Insufficient specialized facilities to house and care for owls currently exist, and creating more would be economically infeasible. 

They considered interfering with Barred Owl reproduction by destroying nests, removing eggs, or rendering eggs unviable. This was dismissed as it was dangerous and unlikely to be effective.

They considered habitat management approaches. Unfortunately, Barred Owls can occupy all the same habitat conditions as Northern Spotted Owls and displace them from it. Growing and maintaining high quality, old-growth forest habitat will not exclude Barred Owls and reduce the threat they pose. 

This leaves us with lethal removal. Researchers ran lethal Barred Owl removal experiments in forests in Washington, Oregon, and California to compare population and reproductive responses of Barred Owls and Spotted Owls in areas where lethal Barred Owl removal occurred, areas where Barred Owls were present and left alone, and areas where Barred Owls were never present. They found compelling evidence that Barred Owl removal had a stabilizing effect on Northern Spotted Owl populations.¹², ¹³

Kill to Protect? Ethical Dilemmas in Conservation

The dilemma posed by the need to kill one species to save another is troubling, but we frequently have to make these fraught decisions in conservation.

Perhaps the most familiar example is rodent control. The introduction of rodents has had a devastating effect on some ecosystems and has been linked to the extinction of 75 species.¹⁴ Lethal removal of rats has been key to conservation efforts in the Galapagos,¹⁵ New Zealand,¹⁶ and many others.¹⁷

 Closer to home, American Bullfrogs were introduced to Washington in the last century or so. They now share ponds with Oregon Spotted Frogs, a federally Threatened species. Predation by American Bullfrogs has been identified as a threat to Oregon Spotted Frogs, which is why there is a lethal bullfrog removal program at Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. 

There are avian examples as well. Brown-headed Cowbirds were trapped and killed as part of the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s recovery plan for the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler, which was successfully delisted from the Endangered Species Act in 2019.

What’s Next?

The US Fish and Wildlife Service received more than 8,000 public comments on the draft Barred Owl Management Strategy. Over the coming months, the Service will review every letter, incorporate feedback, revise analyses as needed, answer substantive questions, and then issue a final Barred Owl Management Strategy and final Environmental Impact Statement. Thirty days after releasing the final documents, the US Fish and Wildlife Service will publish a Record of Decision, explaining which course of action they intend to take.

Given the significant threat posed by Barred Owls to Northern Spotted Owls and the obligations under the Endangered Species Act, it seems likely the lethal Barred Owl removal will come to Washington soon. 

This will not mean open season on Barred Owls everywhere. Only designated specialists would be authorized to kill Barred Owls, only in certain places, and only after identification of the species has been confirmed in multiple ways.¹⁸ Barred Owls in most of the state will still be protected. 

Cold comfort, we know, especially since Barred Owls have become “our” owls. They are the most frequently encountered and easily observed owl species now present in the Seattle area. We find them in both natural areas and intensely urbanized parts of town. The chance to see them can lure dozens of people into a cold, dark forest for a bird outing. Many of us have strong emotional connections to our local neighborhood Barred Owl.

Undertaking the review of the Barred Owl Management Strategy has been a moment of somber reflection for our organization. We hope it is for all of us who care about birds and nature. This situation is the result of a long history of exploitation and degradation of nature that is still ongoing. Without rapid and large-scale efforts to protect biodiversity and limit climate change, variations on this tragic theme are inevitable.    

We all have a role to play to protect birds. From holding governments and corporations accountable, to making our own homes and neighborhoods safer, collective action is the only thing that will ensure a future with a wonderful diversity of birds, including both Northern Spotted Owls and Barred Owls.

References

1. United States Fish & Wildlife Service.(2023). Endangered Species Act 50th Anniversary. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. Accessed January 23, 2024 from   https://www.fws.gov/esa50
2. Chutter, M.J., I. Blackburn, D. Bonin, J. Buchanan, B. Costanzo, D. Cunnington, A. Harestad, T. Hayes, D. Heppner, L. Kiss, J. Surgenor, W. Wall, L. Waterhouse, and L. Williams. (2004). Recovery strategy for the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) in British Columbia. British Columbia Ministry of the Environment, Victoria, British Columbia.
3. Sidles, C (Ed.). (2016). Caring for Birds and Nature: 100 Years of Seattle Audubon. Seattle Audubon, Seattle, Washington.
4. Sher, V. M. (1993). Travels with strix: The spotted owl’s journey through the federal courts. Pub. Land L. Rev., 14, 41.
5. Powers, R. (2018). Slow, but steady improvement: 25 years of monitoring reveals impacts of the Northwest Forest Plan on watersheds. US Geological Survey. Accessed January 18, 2024 from https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/slow-steady-improvement-25-years-monitoring-reveals-impacts-northwest-forest
6. Franklin, A. B., Dugger, K. M., Lesmeister, D. B., Davis, R. J., Wiens, J. D., White, G. C.,… & Wise, H. (2021). Range-wide declines of northern spotted owl populations in the Pacific Northwest: A meta-analysis. Biological Conservation, 259, 109168.
7. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. (2023). Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Implementation of the Proposed Barred Owl Management Strategy in Washington, Oregon, and California. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon.
8. Mazur, K. M. and P. C. James (2021). Barred Owl (Strix varia), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.brdowl.01.1
9. Long, L.L., and Wolf, J.D. (2019). Review of the effects of Barred Owls on Spotted Owls. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 86(6), 1281-1296. DOI:10.1002/jwmg.21715 https://www.fs.usda.gov/psw/publications/long/psw_2019_long001.pdf
10. Taylor Jr, A. L., & Forsman, E. D. (1976). Recent range extensions of the Barred Owl in western North America, including the first records for Oregon. The Condor, 78(4), 560-561.
11. Franklin, A. B., Dugger, K. M., Lesmeister, D. B., Davis, R. J., Wiens, J. D., White, G. C.,… & Wise, H. (2021). Range-wide declines of northern spotted owl populations in the Pacific Northwest: A meta-analysis. Biological Conservation, 259, 109168.
12. Diller, L. V., Hamm, K. A., Early, D. A., Lamphear, D. W., Dugger, K. M., Yackulic, C. B., … & McDonald, T. L. (2016). Demographic response of northern spotted owls to barred owl removal. The Journal of Wildlife Management, 80(4), 691-707.
13. Wiens, J. D., Dugger, K. M., Higley, J. M., Lesmeister, D. B., Franklin, A. B., Hamm, K. A., … & Sovern, S. G. (2021). Invader removal triggers competitive release in a threatened avian predator. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(31), e2102859118.
14. Doherty, T. S., Glen, A. S., Nimmo, D. G., Ritchie, E. G., & Dickman, C. R. (2016). Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(40), 11261-11265.
15. Harper, G. A., Carrion, V., Veitch, C. R., Clout, M. N., & Towns, D. R. (2011). Introduced rodents in the Galápagos: colonisation, removal and the future. Island invasives: eradication and management, 63-66.
16. Towns, D. R., & Broome, K. G. (2003). From small Maria to massive Campbell: forty years of rat eradications from New Zealand islands. New Zealand journal of zoology, 30(4), 377-398.
17. Howald, G., Donlan, C. J., Galvan, J. P., Russell, J. C., Parkes, J., Samaniego, A., … & Tershy, B. (2007). Invasive rodent eradication on islands. Conservation biology, 21(5), 1258-1268.
18. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. (2023). Draft Barred Owl Management Strategy. United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Portland, Oregon.

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