Take Action Now. The Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina), a once-abundant apex nocturnal forest raptor synonymous with the old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest, has experienced precipitous declines in the 20th and 21st centuries, with the advent of intensive logging of its old-growth forest habitat, and the more-recent incursion of a cunning competitor. The latest long-term range-wide study of spotted owl populations clearly documents that the species continues to decline in the present-day, despite over 20 years of federal ESA protections, and that, alarmingly the rate of decline is increasing.
In August 2012, EPIC filed a petition to list the northern spotted owl as either a “threatened” or “endangered” species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), on the basis that federal protections have not been enough to curtail the declines of the northern spotted owl, to bring about recovery of the species.
On February 10, 2016, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) finally released its long-overdue status report detailing the somber state of the spotted owl’s plight in the state of California, a key step in the process to listing the owl under CESA. The CDFW status report outlines the grim status of northern spotted owl populations in the state, and the myriad and ever-increasing threats to the survival and recovery of the species in the wild. The CDFW status report recommends that listing of the northern spotted owl as a “threatened” species under CESA is warranted, citing past and ongoing habitat loss, the increasing and pervasive adverse effects of competitive presence of barred owls, impacts from cannabis agriculture and exposure to rodenticides, impacts from wildfire, fire suppression, and post-fire logging, changing temperature and weather patterns resulting from global and localized climate change, and the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms to protect the owl as reasons for the recommendation.
On April 14, 2016, the California Fish and Game Commission will meet in Santa Rosa to make a final determination on whether the listing of the northern spotted owl under CESA is warranted. The deadline for comments to be received by the Commission on the northern spotted owl listing determination is March 30, 2016. Click here to send a comment to the California Fish and Game Commission or send your own letter to: fgc@fgc.ca.gov.