The Northern spotted owl became a symbol for Oregon’s forest decline during the 1990s and has reached dangerously low populations “…that they no longer play a meaningful ecological role or cannot reproduce enough to persist,” the study concluded.
An experienced researcher at the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station and Oregon State University, Damon Lesmeister, used complicated techniques to assess long-term trends.
“Northern spotted owls are already functionally extinct in large swaths of their range,” Lesmeister said in a news release from OSU. “It's not a thing that's happening in the future, it has happened.”
One of the most controversial topics in United States History is the conservation of spotted owls. The owls have been under protection since 1990 by the Endangered Species Act.
For solutions, Lesmeister claimed the findings can help deepen the impact of spotted owl conservation in specific areas, including the ongoing and deeply controversial removal of barred owls.
Certain conserving landscapes have been highlighted for well-suited spotted owl nesting, a strategy which has already been adopted in Canada.
The sharp declines “doesn’t mean we can’t do anything,” Lesmeister said. “There is still an opportunity for carefully considered management actions.”
Source: 'It has happened': Spotted owls functionally extinct in parts of PNW