BLM Adopts Barred Owl Management To Save Northern Spotted Owl

 Support Recovery of the Northern Spotted Owl

In a significant step to protect the threatened northern spotted owl, the Bureau of Land Management has released a final decision to adopt an overarching Barred Owl Management Strategy developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The strategy addresses the grave threat from invasive barred owls, whose competition with the native northern spotted owl has been identified as one of the main reasons for its steep population decline.

The two major threats to the northern spotted owl, since it was listed under the Endangered Species Act, include competition from barred owls and habitat loss due to fire and drought. Barred owls are larger, more aggressive, and adaptable. They displace the spotted owls, disrupting their nesting and outcompeting them for food. Sometimes, barred owls have been known to interbreed with or even kill spotted owls.

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Key Actions and Strategies

To aid in the resolution of this growing crisis, after years of research and public involvement, the BLM will adopt the Barred Owl Management Strategy developed by the FWS. The strategy will entail the control of the barred owl population throughout the range of the spotted owl in Oregon, Washington, and California to reduce the competition faced by the northern spotted owl.

This is an important plan for the BLM, given its management of more than 245 million acres of public lands. Today's decision follows other steps that have helped reduce habitat loss, including the 2016 Resource Management Plans for Western Oregon. The next step is for the BLM to work in cooperation with other federal agencies to manage the barred owl population and improve conditions for northern spotted owls.

Barred Owl's Expanding Range

Native to eastern North America, barred owls began a westward expansion at the turn of the 20th century, likely due to natural range expansion and human activities that modified the landscape. The presence of barred owls across the western U.S. has greatly contributed to the decline in northern spotted owl populations, particularly where barred owls have been established the longest.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Barred Owl Removal Experiment has already shown promise by reducing the number of barred owls in certain hotspots, increasing the survival rate of northern spotted owls. The experiment thus provided the needed information to develop a long-term barred owl control measure that would help alter the three-year average moving survival rate of spotted owls and stem their population decline.

Immediate and Long-Term Goals

This management strategy aims to stop the decline in northern spotted owl populations in the short term and ensure their recovery in the intermediate term. The plan would afford an opportunity for northern spotted owls to recover where they have fared poorly due to reductions of invasive barred owls. This is a proper course of action, considering that the population trend of northern spotted owls remains in alarming decline.

For the California spotted owl, the approach is to prevent the invasion of barred owls into their range and to reduce the impact of barred owl competition in those areas where their ranges overlap.

FWS's Commitment to Spotted Owl Recovery

The FWS has developed the Barred Owl Management Strategy based on successful results from the Barred Owl Removal Experiment, in which the action of removing barred owls had a positive effect on populations of the northern spotted owl. So far, FWS has promised to take action at the landscape level, tailoring actions to particular regions based on urgency and environmental conditions.

The strategy will be implemented with rapid action because of the need to avoid further decline in the populations of northern spotted owls due to competition from barred owls. Considering the need for urgency, the BLM and FWS are taking immediate steps to slow and reverse the decline of these iconic birds.