Northern Spotted Owl. Photo by Dennis Newman.
As if old growth logging, and competition from barred owls wasn’t enough.
There’s another threat to Oregon’s fragile population of northern spotted owls.
Research from Oregon State University says climate change may also hurt the spotted owl’s chances for survival.
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?
As far as Oregon is concerned, this may be the biggest blow yet to Bush-era environmental policies. And local green groups couldn’t be happier.
Today, the Interior Department says it’s killing a plan that would greatly increase logging on about 2.6 million acres of federal forests in Western Oregon. The plan, known as the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), was approved in the final weeks of the Bush Administration.
A Western Oregon Old Growth Forest. Courtesy BLM.
Why the change in direction? Two reasons.
First, Interior says WOPR was approved too soon and that the Bush Administration failed to follow all the steps required by the Endangered Species law. As a result, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the plan is “legally indefensible” and “cannot stand up in court.”
Next, it point to problems with Bush Administration changes to the recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl. Those changes, made in 2008, were used to help write the WOPR. But an Inspector General’s report says the process was potentially jeopardized by a former Bush official using “improper political influence”.
U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service will take a new look at the recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl.
As a result, Interior is asking a federal judge to toss out the Bush spotted owl plan and is directing the Fish and Wildlife Service to start work on a new one.
Among the Northwest environmental groups praising today’s news is Oregon Wild. The group’s Doug Heiken says, “President Obama has pulled the plug on the most cynical attack on Oregon’s old growth forests in decades.”
Oregon Wild has been critical of the WOPR because it believes the plan allows too much logging on forests more than 80 years old. These “mature forests” include old growth areas, and play vital roles in providing habitat for spotted owls, marbeled murrelets, and clean, cold streams for salmon.
Chuck Willer, Executive Director of the Coast Range Association, believes the decision will save the “best remaining native forest” in Oregon’s Coast Range. “This is a gift to tomorrow’s children for a region in short supply of old growth forest and quality salmon habitat.”
No one expects a halt to logging in Western Oregon. In fact, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar used today’s announcement to praise Governor Kulongoski, Senators Wyden and Merkley, and Congressman DeFazio for their work to build a consensus on how to move forward. “There is broadening agreement that it is time to reevaluate the logging of old growth forests on BLM lands,” says Salazar. “There is also agreement that logging should not occur in areas that would put water quality at risk, and we should fully consider advances in forestry and increased knowledge of species’ needs over the last two decades.”
Welcome to our first video story produced for Natural Oregon.
Recently, we joined researcher David Wiens of Oregon State University on a field trip in the forests near Veneta, Oregon. He and his team are studying the competition between the Northern Spotted Owl and the Barred Owl, a relative newcomer to the state. We got some amazing close up views of Spotted Owls, including a fledgling. You’ll see those images in our video.
As Wiens reminds us, the loss of old growth forest habitat is still the top reason for the decline in Spotted Owl numbers. But the Barred Owl is only making things worse. When Barred Owls move in to old growth areas, the Spotted Owls are almost always driven out, never to be seen again. Where they’re going, and what’s happening to them, are just some of the questions Wiens is trying to answer.
He’s also trying to learn more about how the two species compete. Are they fighting over the same territory? Are they fighting over the same food? Do Barred Owls deserve some of the blame for the Spotted Owl decline? Or are they just taking advantage of it?
Barred Owls have the upper hand in this fight. They’re bigger, stronger and more aggressive. They’ll eat just about any small animal in the forest, including mice, voles, squirrels, fish, snails and crayfish. Native to eastern forests, they migrated across Southern Canada before invading the Pacific Northwest.
Spotted Owls are fussier eaters. They’ll travel far and wide for their preferred prey, Northern Flying Squirrels and Tree Voles. They’re also more dependent on old growth for places to nest.
The results of Wiens studies could have major implications for how old growth is managed in the Northwest. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering shooting Barred Owls to keep their numbers in check, and help Spotted Owls survive. But Wiens research may lead to non-lethal ways to control Barred Owl populations.
Wiens primary sponsor for this $850,000 research project is the U.S. Geological Society. Other agencies contributing include the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, National Park Service and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The field work wraps up by the end of summer.
