[Tweeters] WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Biden plan to shoot 450, 000 owls at $3, 000 each under fire

[Steve Hampton via Tweeters]

Last year I wrote an article about this that explains a few key things that
I think most of the media and public misunderstood: No, They’re not Really
Going to Shoot 450,000 Owls
<https://www.postalley.org/2024/09/12/no-theyre-not-really-going-to-shoot-450000-owls/>


First, it was never a "plan;" it was a permit. And it never came with any
funding or staffing. And it was reliant on partner agencies (federal,
state, county, tribal) to opt in - on their own dime. It came with no cost
estimate (I read the whole EIS and related documents and interviewed the
USFWS about it).

Second, the 450,000 number was always an absurdity. The permit evaluation
required an upper bound; that was it. They put it in the executive summary
and the media ran with it. That works out to killing about 80 owls per
night, every night, for 30 years - an absurdity because it's quite labor
intensive, limited by seasons, and slow-going. The permit itself notes that
Barred Owl removal would be largely limited to areas with known Spotted Owl
territories, of which there are VERY FEW. Even removing a few Barred Owls
per night seems a stretch.

To my knowledge, Olympic NP, one of the places where it would make some
sense in a few contexts (which I can count on one hand), had not decided to
participate. This was probably due to staffing issues even before Trump
took office. In northern Calif, CDFW and the Yurok Tribe (near Redwood NP)
had received modest federal grants to fund limited participation. Again, it
was slow-going and labor intensive, working out to $3000 per bird. That's
no surprise (see my article).

The current Washington Examiner article is among the most misleading. It
offers none of the context above and relies on the dubious statements of a
Texas Republican, who apparently took the $3000 figure, multiplied it by
the 450,000 permit cap, and assumed "Biden" had allocated those funds. Yes,
450,000 x $3,000 = $1.35 billion. But no and no and no. It's fantasy
Trumpian math.

With or without the current fiscal assault on the federal government, this
was never a plan with funding nor staffing and was always going to be
implemented in an anemic piece-meal fashion. That's the reality, no matter
where you stand on the actual permit.








On Fri, Jul 25, 2025 at 12:55 AM Dan Reiff via Tweeters <
tweeters at u.washington.edu> wrote:


> Well, Tweeters, what do you think of this?

> Dan Reiff

> Note: As always, if you do not have an Apple phone or computer, or the

> link cannot be opened, copy and paste the subject headline into your

> Internet browser, like Google or Safari and Search. By this method, you

> will usually be able to find and view the article.

>

> *Biden plan to shoot 450,000 owls at $3,000 each under fire*

> July 23, 2025 A bipartisan parliament of House and Senate members today is

> calling on Congress to kill an expensive plan ordered by former President

> Joe Biden to shoot 450,000 barred owls bullying the endangered northern

> spotted owl in Northwest forests. A resolution being introduced today, led

> by Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) in the House and Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) in the

> Senate, would trigger the Congressional Review Act and stop the Biden-era

> initiative. Recommended Stories In addition to saving

>

> Read in Washington Examiner: https://apple.news/AfbZ26W90RvO-_Z5sVfgBgw

>

>

> Shared from Apple News <https://www.apple.com/news>

>

>

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-- 
​Steve Hampton​
Port Townsend, WA  (qatáy)
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