On Feb 7, 2011, at 12:59 PM, Douglas Canning wrote:

> The two most recent issues of Northwestern Naturalist carry a two-part
> paper titled: "Killing Barred Owls to Help Spotted Owls I: A Global
> Perspective" (91(2): 107 - 133), and "Killing Barred Owls to Help
> Spotted Owls II: Implications for Many Other Range-expanding Species
> (91(3): 251 - 270).

It would help the discussion if these papers were more widely available online.

They are written by Kent B. Livezey of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington Fish and Wildlife Office in Lacey, WA who has done a lot of work on Spotted Owls (as one can tell from the paper's he's published).

Abstracts at BioOne so you can see the overall thrust of the paper

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1898/NWN09-37.1

http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1898/NWN09-38.1

Today Orgeon Live has a similar report report is well done. Though the comment thread brings up pretty much all the issues you are going to hear more of in the next 6 months or so (from "spotted owls killed forestry" all the way to "evolution is a myth" ... yikes).

http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2011/02/make_this_call_in_the_wild_sho.html

> It's a wrenching decision that splits wildlife biologists and environmentalists. Killing one native animal to benefit another -- especially a "big, beautiful raptor, a fantastic bird," as one biologist puts it -- is such a leap that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hired an environmental ethicist to guide its discussions.
>
> "There's no winner in that debate," says Bob Sallinger, conservation director with the Portland Audubon Society.
>
> Some biologists believe the proposal won't work. More barred owls, perhaps hundreds, would have to be killed every year to keep the study areas free of interlopers for three to 10 years. One biologist estimated the cost at up to $1 million annually.
>
> Others oppose intervening in what they see as natural selection at work.

This is a very complex issue. I'm still not sure what side I come down on. Still working my way through the literature. But one thing is clear the Northern Spotted Owl endangered subspecies has a declining population.
--
Kevin Purcell (Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA)
kevinpurcell at pobox.com
http://kevinpurcell.posterous.com
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