The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has reached an agreement with conservation groups to conduct a new Endangered Species Act (ESA) review of California spotted owls by Feb. 25, 2023.
The agreement follows a lawsuit filed in August of last year, which asserted the Trump administration’s decision not to list the California spotted owl was unlawful and not supported by the USFWS’ scientific assessment. The suit was filed by Sierra Forest Legacy, the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife, a coalition represented by Earthjustice.
“Protecting the owl will help ensure that remaining mature forests and large trees that are the most resilient to fire are protected,” said Susan Britting, executive director of Sierra Forest Legacy. “Saving owls will also help safeguard people because actions like prescribed fire not only benefit owls but also help protect communities from wildfire.”
The agreement dictates that USFWS will submit a new 12-month finding as to whether the listing of the owl as threatened or endangered is warranted, not warranted or warranted but precluded by other pending proposals.
“We’re pleased that the court has required the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reassess the status of the critically imperiled California spotted owl,” said Pamela Flick, California program director for Defenders of Wildlife. “Time and again, scientific analyses clearly indicate that this species is at risk of continued population declines from myriad threats and warrants immediate protections.”
The California subspecies of spotted owls lives in forests in the Sierra Nevada and in the mountains of coastal and southern California. Conservation groups say the species is under threat from logging, climate change, disease and wildfires.— Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
