Home / Environment / Senators Reject Plan to Cull Barred Owls to Protect Spotted Owls
Senators Reject Plan to Cull Barred Owls to Protect Spotted Owls
1 Nov
Summary
- U.S. senators voted against halting a plan to kill over 450,000 barred owls
- Barred owls are displacing threatened spotted owls in western North America
- Senators argue barred owls are "not hurting anybody" and we shouldn't "control nature"
On November 1st, 2025, the U.S. Senate voted against a plan to halt the killing of over 450,000 barred owls in an effort to protect the threatened spotted owl. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) had previously stated that actions to address the threat of barred owls to spotted owls were "necessary to support the survival of the threatened northern spotted owl and avoid substantial impacts to the California spotted owl populations from barred owl competition."
However, several senators strongly opposed the plan. Republican Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana argued that "the barred owls are not hurting anybody. They're just doing what nature teaches them to do. We're going to change nature?" Texas Senator Ted Cruz also criticized the plan, stating that "Killing a half-billion owls seems like a crazy thing for the government to be doing."
Despite the Biden administration's support for the plan, the Senate has effectively halted the proposed culling of the invasive barred owl species. This decision comes as a blow to conservation efforts aimed at protecting the native and threatened spotted owl populations across California, Oregon, and Washington.
