Kill 500,000 Barred Owls?

That is what the US Fish & Wildlife wants to do in an effort to protect the endangered spotted owl Strix occidentalis in the northwest.  The barred owl Strix varia out-competes the spotted in forests it inhabits. [photo] To reduce the competition USF&W proposes to allow hunters to kill half a million owls over the next thirty years. 

Barred owls are considered invasive in the northwest.  They have been here since the 1950's spreading over California, Washington and Oregon, and supplanting the native spotted owl.  Their success is attributed to their larger size, aggressiveness, and more varied diet.  Studies have shown that barred owl removal has a salutary effect on the decline of spotted owl populations.  Nevertheless, hunting such an iconic bird of prey is unthinkable.  Would you be willing to kill a bald eagle?

Culling is a tragic method of controlling the population of problematic species.  It should be used as a method of last resort.  Other options such as sterilization are more expensive and labor intensive.  There are now over 100,000 barred owls in spotted owl territory.  A great deal of effort and controversy went into preserving old growth forest in the northwest so as to provide habitat for the spotted.  The habitat is there, but now the barred is moving in, big time.  US Person occasional hears the "hoot-hoot woohoo" of a barred in the night in the big firs outside his home.   It is always an inspiring sound.