Barred Owls (Strix varia) to be killed off by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to allegedly protect Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis) habitat

To the Editor:

Recently the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service has hatched a bizarre plan to kill off Barred Owls (Strix varia) to allegedly protect the habitat of their closely-related cousins, the Spotted Owls (Strix occidentalis). The Barred Owl is a magnificent large predatory bird that hunts in the evening and the night for its rodent prey.

This plan is morally wrong and biologically a complete waste of time. Barred Owls are very close relatives of Spotted Owls. When their breeding territories overlap, they sometimes interbreed and produce hybrid offspring. Does the Fish and Wildlife Service also plan to kill off these hybrid offspring?

If the Barred Owls have decided to expand their eastern, central and western breeding range down into the forests of Washington, Oregon and California, nothing but mass murder will stop them from doing so. Killing Barred Owls to supposedly protect the Spotted Owl habitat in the western forests of Washington, Oregon and California would be a never-ending program.This misguided program should be ended now.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

16 June 2005

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