July 24, 2025 - In a surprising move, the Trump administration has become an unlikely ally for advocates opposing a plan to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls in Pacific Coast forests, halting a controversial program designed to save the endangered northern spotted owl.
The administration, without offering an explanation, recently canceled three federal grants intended to launch the owl removal program in Northern California. The decision reverses a 30-year management strategy approved by the previous Biden administration, creating a peculiar political alignment that has dismayed many conservationists while delighting animal welfare groups.
The conflict centers on two species: the native northern spotted owl, whose protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1990 made it an icon of environmentalism, and the barred owl, a larger, more aggressive species from the Eastern U.S. that has invaded the West and pushed the spotted owl to the brink of extinction.
The plan, approved under the prior administration, called for culling barred owls by the hundreds of thousands across California, Oregon, and Washington. This management tactic, typically carried out with shotguns, would have been permitted in protected areas like Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Muir Woods.
The science supporting the cull is robust. Pioneering research by the Hoopa Valley Tribe, along with a major 2021 analysis, demonstrated that removing barred owls directly boosts spotted owl survival and reproduction. Many wildlife biologists believe that without managing the barred owl population, the spotted owl will go extinct.
However, the grant cancellation is a victory for critics, including animal rights groups and a bipartisan coalition of congressional members like Republican Rep. David Valadao and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Conversely, conservation groups who see the cull as a grim necessity were dismayed. Their concerns are amplified by other actions from the administration that could further imperil the spotted owl. Tierra Curry, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, noted that the administration has also frozen funds for monitoring spotted owl populations and has moved to rescind the “roadless rule,” which protects their forest habitat from logging.
This latest action is part of a broader pattern of the Trump administration freezing federal grants since taking office, which has spurred numerous lawsuits from officials like California Attorney General Rob Bonta. For now, the future of the northern spotted owl remains caught between a scientifically-backed but brutal management plan and a political reversal that may undermine its survival in other ways.