Plans to shoot thousands of barred owls in doubt after feds cancel grants
A controversial plan to kill up to half a million invasive barred owls to protect endangered spotted owls is in jeopardy after the Trump administration terminated three critical grants funding the program.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s barred owl management strategy was approved last September.
The plan, set to start this year and continue for three decades, called for lethal removal of barred owls in Washington, Oregon and California by shooting them with shotguns or, less frequently, capturing and euthanizing them.
Barred owls and spotted owls prefer the same habitat and compete for the same food. But the barred owl is larger and more aggressive, and typically prevails in conflicts with the spotted owl.
https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/22/plans-to-shoot-thousands-of-barred-owls-in-doubt-after-feds-cancel-grants/