There are few birds in the Pacific Northwest that have generated more controversy than the Northern Spotted Owl. The owl is known for its focus on nurturing its young and can live around 10 years in the wild. One of three sub-species, the Northern Spotted Owl is intently territorial and resides in old-growth forests in the Pacific Northwest, with smaller regions in northern California and southwestern British Columbia, Canada.

The controversies began in the 1990s when logging took over most of the owl’s habitat. Then, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) raised concern that the sub-species would lose all the habitats within 26 years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Northern Spotted Owl as “near threatened.” It was also listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 1990.

BLM and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) developed plans to save the Northern Spotted Owl. Those efforts pitted loggers, landowners and small communities against government policies that forced them to abandon logging in areas deemed the habitat of the owl.

One case in 1995 raised the issue in the courts. The Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon sued Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt for overstepping its interpretation of “harm” from the Endangered Species Act. The Supreme Court of the United States sided with the government, finding the harm to the habitat outweighed the cost to the plaintiffs.

Since then, the USFWS has managed specified areas for the Northern Spotted Owl. With an estimated total of 2,300-2,500 breeding pairs living in the U.S., those areas have been protected. Those areas include the Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Glenwood, Washington; and in Oregon, the Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge near Newport, the Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint and National Wildlife Refuge west of Tillamook, and the Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuge near Dallas, Oregon (west of Salem).

During the Obama Administration, proposals for increasing then decreasing logging in the Pacific Northwest, perpetuated the fight for the spotted owl. In 2021, the Trump Administration opened up more than three million acres of land that had been designated protected habitats of the Northern Spotted Owl. Later that year, the Biden Administration reversed that action.

The most recent controversy began when the USFWS observed that another culprit was threatening the habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl. The USFWS continued to consider the Northern Spotted Owl as threatened, adding a new threat, the North American Barred Owl. Native of the Eastern U.S., the barred owls are larger, more aggressive and have begun to displace the Northern Spotted Owl nesting places. The usually sedentary species is believed to have begun migrating west due to human activities in their native habitats.

The agency began to map out a plan to remove the “invasive” barred owls which were taking over the habitat of the Northern Spotted Owl. Their proposal was introduced in 2023 and open to public comment. It included a managed plan to kill enough of the barred owls to ease the threat against the Pacific Northwest owl. It wasn’t the first time that the USFWS proposed killing one species to save another. In 2018, the agency supported a move to kill sea lions to help save salmon runs along the Columbia River and its tributaries, with varying degrees of successful outcomes.

The USFWS announced the approval of their Barred Owl Management Strategy in 2024, to the outcry of numerous environmental groups. Still the plan proceeded with operational activities to begin in 2025. The plan would allow the controlled killing of 453,000-470,000 barred owls in the next 30 years.

In October 2025, Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) launched a passioned drive to stop the killing. During his speech on the Senate floor in October, he was flanked by large images of both owls, along with a colorful depiction of the Warner Brothers’ Looney Tunes cartoon character Elmer Fudd in his hunting attire.

He declared, “Barred owls are expanding their habitat because the forests in the east have been cut down. That’s called adaptive expansion.”

Senator Kennedy (R-LA) introduced Joint Resolution 69 to end the Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) plan in October, co-sponsored by senators from Kentucky, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee and Oklahoma.

Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley issued a statement opposing the bill. They stated that the USFWS’s plan was a decade in the making and coordinated between agencies and tribes. A full Senate vote was held in late October with 72 members defeating the bill. All four Senators from Oregon and Washington voted to oppose the bill.

By Sherry Harbert

© 2025, Foreign Interest. Photo credit, Sherry Harbert, image of Mt. Adams from the Conboy Lake National Wildlife Refuge in Washington, one of the main habitats of the Northern Spotted Owl.