Killing barred owls to save spotted owls is the lesser of two evils

Dominick A DellaSala

The Ecological Citizen Vol 8 No 1 2025: epub-118-1 to 10

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First published: 7 September 2024 | PERMANENT URL | DOWNLOAD CITATION IN RIS FORMAT

Abstract

The northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) was federally listed under the US Endangered Species Act in 1990 due to loss and adverse modification of its old-growth forest habitat from rapacious logging. Range-wide expansion of barred owls (Strix varia) has since elevated extinction risks through competitive exclusion of spotted owls by barred owls. The US Fish and Wildlife Service controversially proposed the lethal removal of 470,000 barred owls over three decades to slow the advancing barred owl expansion wave. This set up a novel ethical dilemma of pitting one remarkable raptor against the other. Qualified support for barred owl removal, the lesser of two evils, along with expanded old-growth forest protections, is the only chance for spotted owl survival. However, a long history of political interference in endangered species recovery actions and command-and-control over nature hubris continue to shift recovery actions from old-growth habitat protections to inappropriate 'ecoforestry' logging in spotted owl territories.

Keywords

Animal ethics, Conservation, Ecological ethics