VIDEO: Owl Vs Owl: The Feds May Be Ready To Take Sides
Northern Spotted Owl. Photo by Dennis Newman.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking at a new tactic to help save the Northern Spotted Owl. Like so many issues surrounding this endangered species, what the feds are considering could be very controversial. But this time, it may be people in the environmental movement who’ll be unhappy.
Fish and Wildlife is proposing an experimental removal of Barred Owls from three areas in Oregon and Washington. Barred Owls are relative newcomers to the Pacific Northwest. They were rarely seen until about 10 to 15 years ago. But since then their numbers have exploded and spotted owls have suffered greatly. If removing barred owls helps the spotted owl recover, then Fish and Wildlife may want to expand the program across the region.
Here is where it gets tricky. Does “removal” mean shooting and killing barred owls, or does it mean trapping and relocating them? Fish and Wildlife says it hasn’t figured that out yet. So as of Thursday, it’s opening a 30-day window for public comment.
Video: In June, we went on a field trip to OSU researcher David Wiens who’s studying how Barred Owls compete with Spotted Owls.
Other questions Fish and Wildlife is wrestling with; how many barred owls should be removed and if they’re captured where is the best spot to release them?
So why do barred owls pose such a threat?
Barred Owl photo by Kristian Skyback. For more see flickr.com/kristiansven.
Phil Carroll with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Portland says the species compete for nesting sites and food. Like spotted owls, the barred owl prefers to nest in old growth forest. But when the two species interact, the barred owl usually wins. They’re bigger and more aggressive. Carroll says they “Actually attack the spotted owl and drive them off.”
“When barred owls move into an area, the spotted owls seem to disappear.”
What happens then is something of a mystery. Researchers don’t know if the dispersed spotted owls are dying, or if they go away quietly and hide out for the rest of their lives. Either way, once spotted owls are driven out of an area Carroll says, “They do not reproduce.”
Carroll says its not unheard of for wildlife officials to trap or shoot once species with the goal of preserving another on. On the Oregon coast, officials will shoot ravens, crows and trap skunks to stop them from eating the eggs of the Western Snowy Plover, a threatened shorebird. At Bonneville Dam, wildlife officials have trapped dozens of sea lions who eat endangered salmon and steelhead.
Once the 30-day comment period is over, Fish and Wildlife will begin work on a draft environmental impact statement. Comments can be mailed to Field Supervisor, Oregon Fish and Wildlife Office, 2600 S.E. 98th Ave., Suite 100, Portland, OR 97266. Or they can be faxed to 503-231-6195. Be sure to mention you’re commenting on the Barred Owl EIS. The deadline is January 11, 2010.
