Audubon Society of the Bay area joins the Fray Legal Plan in Owl Killing – East Bay Times

Marin Audubon society has joined a coalition of conservation groups that defend a Federal Plan to Kill Invasive Barradas Owls in the northwest of the Pacific.

The coalition has requested to intervene as coacked in Two federal demandsone in Oregon and the other in the state of Washington, to support the fishing and wild life service of the United States. The coalition says that the sacrifice, although unfortunate, is necessary to protect the Threatened stained owls from the North and California.

In addition to the Marin organization, the coalition includes the Environmental Information Protection Center, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Oregon, Umpqua basins in Oregon and northwest conservation in Seattle.

“I am pleased that organizations in the Northwest take this and I hope we succeed,” said Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon society.

“We need to protect our native ecosystem,” said Salzman. “The north stained owl is native, and its loss would be significant in our ecosystem.”

The US Fishing and Wildlife Service. “

The plan is designed to reduce social competence with the stained owls of the North and California, which are raptors more docile than their biggest and most intimidating cousins, and are native to the northwest of the Pacific.

The three federal parks in Marin, where the practice of sacrifice would be authorized are the National Recreation Area of Golden Gate, the National Monument Muir Woods and the Point Reyes National Seashore.

In November, animal welfare groups filed federal demands against the plan in Oregon and Washington by calling the inhuman strategy and claiming violations of federal laws.

Both demands argue that the wildlife is using Barred owl as an scapegoat for its poor management of the stained owl habitat. The demands say that the destruction of the ancient growth forests, even through human activities such as logging and development, as well as the effects of climate change, are the true reasons for the degradation of the habitat of the stained owl.

The plaintiffs say that the barrades are native to North America and that the plan is a violation of the law of migratory birds. They also claim that the wildlife agency has violated the National Environmental Policy Law by not completely examining alternative management options.

The plaintiffs in both costumes say that it is worrying that the hunt would be allowed to occur at night, which puts the spotted owl threatened with greater risk of being accidentally identified evil as its cousin of barrado and killed owl.

Another concern is that the sacrifice would be allowed in the wild areas designated by the federal government, which are supposed to be administered by the service in a limited way so that habitats are not affected by humans.

“I am disappointed that some groups believe that killing barrads is necessary to help stained owls,” said Jennifer Best, director of the Silvestre Life Friends of Animals program. The organization is the plaintiff in the case of Oregon.

“I hope they get to better understand the deficiencies and dangers of the Barred Owl Kill Plan,” Best said. “I also hope that these groups see that the Barred Owl Kill plan establishes a dangerous precedent for the entire management of wildlife when interfering with natural competition between animals instead of addressing the root causes that threaten many species, including destruction of habitat and climate change. “

The plaintiffs in the case of Washington are equally disappointed.

“We cannot allow a good goal, such as saving the stained owl, obscuring an inhuman and involuntary plan,” said Wayne Palelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the center of a human economy. “It is not only the cost of the program greater than one billion dollars, but it cannot assess that surviving owls will simply fill the void and occupy the nests where the shots occurred.”

He said his organization estimated that it could cost around $ 1.34 billion. The estimate was based on a recent subsidy of $ 4.5 million from the National Foundation of Fishing and Wildlife to the Hoopa Valley tribe in Humboldt County to kill up to 1,500 barrades. Taking that amount, Pacelle said it is estimated to cost around $ 3,000 per owl.

Salzman said that after years trying to handle the problem of the Barrado owl, wildlife experts have not been successful when proposing alternatives.

“Anyway, look, it will be loss: the people lost in the sacrifice or the loss of stained owls as a result of the barrades are here,” said Salzman. “We prefer to maintain the native species.”

Salzman said there could be many unknown and involuntary consequences of allowing the continuous expansion of the owl of the owl.

“They are larger, more aggressive, they have more varied diets,” said Salzman. “I could create a different condition in our ecosystem.”

Without the management of owl with a belly and the oldest forest habitat protections, the stained owls are probable, Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center, said. The organization is part of the coalition with Marin Audubon society.

“The control of the owl Barred is well studied and it has been shown that it is extremely effective to counteract owl threats with survival, recruitment and recovery of the stained owl,” Wheeler said.

A federal judge approved the application of the coalition to intervene in the case of Washington. The request in Oregon is pending.

The fishing and wild life service declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.

Originally published: January 28, 2025 at 6:09 am PST