Instead of offering arguments, attorneys for two litigant environmental organizations found themselves on the receiving end of questioning from a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson asked the Friends of Animals and Animal Wellness Action to justify their standing in suing federal agencies that issued a permit to kill barred owls in the Pacific Northwest to save the struggling northern spotted owl population.
“Fish and Wildlife Service determined it is critical to manage barred owls before spotted owls are extricated from their native range,” Erika Furlong, attorney representing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management, told the Courthouse News Service.
To that end, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) finalized a management strategy to remove up to 450,000 barred owls (see above photo) from the Pacific Northwest and West Coast over three decades. USFWS conducted an experiment that showed removal of barred owls in four study areas – one in Washington, two in Oregon and one in northern California – stabilized spotted owl populations compared to areas of non-removal, where spotted owl populations declined 12 percent in one year.
There are approximately 3.5 million barred owls across North America compared to 15,000 northern spotted owls, which is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. According to researchers, spotted owl numbers decreased 65 to 85 percent in many study areas between 1995 and 2017, despite significant restrictions on timber harvest and old growth under the Northwest Forest Management plan specifically intended to help northern spotted owls.
Only in recent years have barred owls spread into Washington, Oregon and northern California as a non-native species for that region. They are known to be larger and more aggressive than northern spotted owls. They also compete with spotted owls for food, displacing them and disrupting their nesting, including killing some of them.
A 2025 University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows barred owls in the Pacific Northwest are an “invasive species” that affect “a whole ecosystem and all sorts of species.” Researchers studied 788 barred owls that ate 162 different species including 29 with federal or state conservation status like the northern harrier, long-eared owl and western screech owl, as well as the racoon-like ringtail.
“Those animals (northern spotted owls) are getting double the pressure,” said Emily Fountain, research scientist and study co-author. “They’re eaten by the barred owl and the barred owl is eating their prey.”
The animal rights groups argued the USFWS management plan did not meet standards under the National Environmental Policy Act.
“Plaintiffs challenge the strategy for the simple reason they disagree with it,” Furlong told the Courthouse News Service.
Pacelle’s Propaganda
Wayne Pacelle is the president of Animal Wellness Action. He founded the organization in 2018, just months after resigning under a cloud of sexual harassment allegations as president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, a well-known anti-hunting organization.
Addressing the barred owl management plan, Pacelle said he disagreed with it and claimed such actions would make no difference. He also said the plan equates to “open season on all owls,” including hunting in national parks.
When Pacelle speaks, he does so out both sides of his mouth. In one breath, he said removing barred owls will not reduce densities and pressure on spotted owls, which are simply losing the competition for nesting sites. “That’s just animals having a natural effect on an ecosystem. Isn’t that nature? ”he said. In the next breath, he blamed the timber industry as the cause of the owl-versus-owl dilemma. Pacelle claims the management strategy is a “scheme” to “engage in the mass killing of owls in the Northwest” so the timber industry can cut down more old-growth trees.
Fact-Checking Pacelle
There is no open season. According to the USFWS FAQ, professional removal specialists with training, experience and competency requirements to “accurately identify spotted owls and barred owls using both visual and auditory means” will carry out the management. “No public hunting of barred owls is allowed.”
This isn’t just nature. The USFWS agrees with scienced-based research, as per studies previously cited, that the main threats to northern spotted owls are invasive, non-native barred owls combined with habitat loss. Those threats were identified in 1990 when the spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Efforts to maintain and enhance habitat continue through the protection and management of late-successional reserves on federally managed lands and similar efforts on state and private forests through conservation plans, but the barred owl management plan is the first planned action to address that species. Also, according to USFWS, the amount of habitat lost to catastrophic wildfire surpassed that lost to timber harvest in recent years.
There are no plans to hunt owls in national parks. With management areas pinpointed in California, Oregon and Washington, the USFWS does not have plans to remove barred owls within national parks.
A Head Scratcher
Why would animal rights groups object to the selective removal of birds from a significantly larger, expanding and thriving barred owl population, when that species has a direct, negative impact on a much smaller and less aggressive northern spotted owl species that is simply trying to survive? Especially when activists used northern owls for decades as a means to file endless lawsuits to stop much-needed active forest management to benefit deer, elk and a wide array of other wildlife species, plus overall forest health.
Perhaps, these activist groups do not want spotted owl recovery at all, so the species can remain a tool to both stop selective forest management and serve as a fundraising mechanism for their organizations.
Activist Sidenote
Claire Davis is the attorney representing Animal Wellness Action in the barred owl case. She is also the founder and board president of the litigant environmental organization Washington Wildlife First. Davis recently teamed with Washington Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Lorna Smith to file a federal lawsuit against Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Kelly Susewind and Deputy Director Amy Windrope. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson earlier ordered an investigation into conduct by Smith and her fellow commissioners for reported closed-door interactions with Davis, among other issues.
About Hunt 2 Conserve
Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.
(Photo credit: Ray Bosch/USFWS)
