Billboard campaign targets federal barred owl killing plan

The Center for a Humane Economy has launched a four-state billboard campaign to pressure federal officials to abandon a plan it says would kill 450,000 barred owls over 30 years. The campaign comes as other federal policies affecting Northern spotted owls move forward, escalating a broader fight over forest management in the West.

Why it matters: - The campaign targets a federal wildlife plan that would authorize the lethal removal of barred owls across the West. - The Center for a Humane Economy says the plan would also intensify threats to Northern spotted owls by pairing owl killings with habitat loss and new logging access. - The fight touches public lands in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, where federal forestry and wildlife decisions could reshape old-growth habitat management.

What happened: - The Center for a Humane Economy launched its “Hoot, Don’t Shoot” campaign on Sept. 9, 2026. - The effort includes 17 billboards across Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho. - The campaign urges the public to reject a federal plan to kill 450,000 barred owls over 30 years. - The group also launched HootDontShoot.org as a public portal to oppose the plan. More information - Wayne Pacelle, president of the Center for a Humane Economy, said the plan is a “bait-and-switch” that masks broader efforts to destroy spotted owl habitat.

The details: - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has already begun spending millions of taxpayer dollars on shooting teams operating on public lands and Indian reservations. - The agency has not disclosed the running body count, despite repeated Freedom of Information Act requests. - The Interior and Agriculture departments have launched what the release describes as a four-pronged plan affecting barred owls and Northern spotted owls. - The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received a blanket special-purpose permit under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to kill barred owls in massive numbers. - Barred owl killings would be used as a mitigation tool to support “incidental take” permits for tree cutting in spotted owl nesting areas. - In July, the Fish and Wildlife Service finalized a rule rescinding the regulatory definition of “harm” under the Endangered Species Act. - That change is set to take effect on Sept. 14 and would remove a habitat protection long used for threatened and endangered wildlife, including Northern spotted owls. - The Agriculture Department has proposed repealing the 25-year-old Roadless Rule. - That proposal would open road building on 58 million acres of protected national forests. - The release says new roads would increase access for poachers, bear baiters, trophy hunters and barred owl shooters. - The release says the same roads would also help timber companies use bulldozers and heavy machinery to remove trees and move them to mills. - Interior and Agriculture leaders worked with GOP leaders in Congress to add a timber provision to last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill. - The provision aims to raise public-lands timber harvest goals by 60% over the next three years. - The release says that would allow 5 billion board feet of timber to be removed from national forests and Bureau of Land Management lands in Oregon, California and Washington. - Supplemental materials from the press conference are available through the campaign materials page. More information

Between the lines: - The campaign is trying to recast barred owl removal as part of a broader political and industrial push, not a standalone wildlife management action. - The release frames the issue as a clash between species protection and logging access on public lands. - The timing suggests the billboard push is meant to influence public comment and policy pressure before additional habitat-related rules take hold.

What's next: - The Fish and Wildlife Service’s rescission of the “harm” definition is scheduled to take effect on Sept. 14. - The Agriculture Department’s Roadless Rule proposal is still awaiting public comment. - The billboard campaign is expected to keep pressure on federal officials as those policies advance. - The Center for a Humane Economy says the public can use HootDontShoot.org to call for the plan’s shutdown. More information

The bottom line: - The owl fight is now a broader Western public-lands battle over wildlife protection, habitat loss and timber policy.