Save The Owls

Save the Owls

At Norfolk Wood Shop, our whole brand is built around owls and healthy forests.

Right now, real owls need our help!

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has approved a Barred Owl Management Strategy that would allow contractors to kill up to 450,000 barred owls over 30 years across Washington, Oregon, and California, in the name of protecting the threatened northern and California spotted owls.

In October 2025, the U.S. Senate voted on S.J.Res.69, a resolution that would have overturned this killing plan under the Congressional Review Act. The resolution failed 25–72, which means the mass-killing strategy is moving forward unless Congress or the Administration changes course.

This isn’t just a Pacific Northwest issue. It’s about how we treat wildlife, how we use the Endangered Species Act, and what kind of conservation we’re willing to accept.

What’s actually happening?

Barred owls are native to eastern North America. As forests have changed and expanded westward, they’ve moved into the same territory as the northern and California spotted owls.
The Fish & Wildlife Service has decided the best way to help spotted owls is to shoot large numbers of barred owls over decades under a special permit.
The projected cost over time is very high—potentially hundreds of millions to over a billion dollars in taxpayer money— with no real end point, because as long as habitat favors barred owls, they’ll keep returning.

We’re not against saving spotted owls. We’re against turning vast forest areas into long-term killing zones instead of fixing the root causes: habitat loss, bad forest management, and climate stress.

Why did the Senate vote against S.J.Res.69?

Most senators who voted against S.J.Res.69 didn’t stand up and say “we want more owls shot.” The story they were told looked more like this:

“This is the science-based way to save spotted owls.”
Senators were told that after years of study, lethal removal of barred owls is the only proven tool to reduce competition and buy time for spotted owls.
“Barred owls are an invasive problem in the West.”
Even though barred owls are native to North America, they’re being framed as “invasive” in Pacific Coast forests—more aggressive, more adaptable, and a direct threat to spotted owls.
“The Congressional Review Act is a blunt hammer.”
S.J.Res.69 used the Congressional Review Act (CRA). If Congress kills a rule under the CRA, the agency is blocked from issuing a “substantially similar” rule later. Many senators worry about using that tool on complex wildlife rules because it can lock everyone into a bad status quo.
“We don’t want to blow up timber and land-use plans.”
Some timber and land-management interests warned that overturning the rule could force agencies to redo consultations and land-use plans, potentially delaying timber projects.

In other words: they believed they were backing the expert agency, saving spotted owls, and avoiding legal chaos.

We can respect science and still say this goes too far.

Why we’re asking you to push back

When you contact your senators and representative, it helps to meet that argument head-on:

Acknowledge that they care about science and spotted owl recovery.
Then explain why this plan is the wrong line to cross:

Habitat, not just killing, is the real long-term solution.
Spotted owls are in trouble largely because of habitat loss and forest mismanagement. Killing barred owls doesn’t fix clear-cut hillsides, fragmented forests, or climate-driven changes.
This sets a dangerous national precedent.
If we accept killing hundreds of thousands of one native species to “save” another, it becomes easier to justify mass-killing programs for wolves, seals, fish—any time ecosystems are stressed.
It normalizes lethal control as our first big move.
Once we treat large-scale killing as routine “conservation,” we’re less likely to invest in the harder work: restoring habitat, reforming land use, and addressing climate impacts.
It’s expensive and endless.
As long as conditions favor barred owls, any gains will fade unless we keep killing. That’s a long, expensive, and morally ugly commitment for taxpayers and public lands.

What we’re asking for isn’t “do nothing.” We’re asking Congress to push for:

Habitat-focused, humane conservation
Accountability on cost and effectiveness
Limits on large-scale killing programs as a default tool

Why this matters, even if you don’t live out West

You might be in Virginia (like us) or somewhere else entirely. This still affects you because:

It sets a national precedent: what happens to barred and spotted owls will be cited in future fights over wolves, marine mammals, fish, and more.
It diverts huge amounts of money away from long-term solutions like restoring old-growth forests, protecting habitat corridors, and improving climate resilience.
It normalizes the idea that when ecosystems are stressed, our first big move is lethal control, not fixing the damage we caused.

If you love owls, forests, or simply want conservation to be humane and science-driven, this is the moment to speak up.

What you can do in 3 minutes

Find your U.S. Senators
Use the Senate’s official contact directory and select your state:
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Find your U.S. Representative
Use the House’s “Find Your Representative” tool by ZIP code:
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Send a short, strategic message
You can call, email, or use their web form. When you write, acknowledge their intent, then ask them to change course on this specific approach.

Sample message you can send (any state):

You can copy and edit this to match your voice.

Subject: Please oppose the Barred Owl Management Strategy and future mass-killing programs

Dear Senator/Representative [Last Name],

I am a constituent in [Your City, State], and I’m writing to urge you to oppose the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Barred Owl Management Strategy and any future funding or rules that support mass killing of barred owls.

I understand that you may have been told this plan is the science-based way to help northern and California spotted owls, and that it followed years of agency work. I share the goal of protecting spotted owls. But authorizing contractors to kill up to 450,000 barred owls over 30 years in Washington, Oregon, and California crosses a line that we should not normalize.

Barred owls are not villains; they are native birds following habitat changes that humans created. Responding with a decades-long shooting program is not humane, and it risks turning large parts of our forests into permanent killing zones whenever ecosystems are under stress.

Scientists agree that habitat loss and forest mismanagement are core drivers of spotted owl decline. Lethal control has uncertain long-term benefits and will have to be repeated as long as conditions continue to favor barred owls. Instead of committing massive sums of taxpayer dollars to indefinite killing, we should invest in permanent fixes: protecting and restoring old-growth forests, improving habitat, supporting Tribal and local conservation, and addressing climate change impacts that threaten all wildlife.

I respectfully ask you to:

Support any new resolutions or legislation, similar to S.J.Res.69, that would overturn or constrain the Barred Owl Management Strategy.
Use the appropriations process to block or limit funding for large-scale lethal removal of barred owls.
Champion humane, habitat-focused conservation instead of long-term mass-killing programs as a default solution.

I appreciate your attention to science and your commitment to protecting threatened species. I’m asking you to bring that same commitment to re-examining this specific strategy and pushing for conservation that addresses root causes, not just symptoms.

Thank you for your time and for considering my views.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City, State]

If you share this page or use this letter, thank you. You’re helping remind Congress that people are paying attention—and that saving one species should never mean quietly erasing another.