The northern spotted owl is already facing habitat loss and competition with invasive species. Losing the ability to monitor the bird could come with major consequences. Without regional monitoring of the birds, the Center for Biological Diversity said conservation agencies would be left without crucial information about the species.
![[Populations of the northern spotted owl have been plummeting for decades. Monitoring data ensures that efforts to protect the owls are successful]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/02/21/21/52/RSNorthernSpottedOwl_Oregon_KrisHennings_USDAForestService_FPWC_2.jpeg)
That monitoring to track the species and ensure it's not under assault by other creatures is often done by federal employees and helps keep the species alive. It could be threatened by President Donald Trump and his right-hand man Elon Musk as they push to freeze government hiring and axe thousands from the federal payroll.
“As a former seasonal spotted owl surveyor myself, I know first-hand how important keeping track of these inquisitive birds is to their survival. Decades of work [have] gone into ensuring the owls aren’t harmed by logging on our public lands. If we can’t do the surveys, the logging may need to stop,” he added.
As of three years ago, the U.S. Forest Service had estimated there were just between 3,000 and 5,200 of the white-flecked birds left on federal lands. “The populations are really at a tipping point right now,” Alan Franklin, a research scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Wildlife Research Center, told the non-profit. “Something has to be done quickly.”.
The center notes that monitoring the spotted owl is required by the Northwest Forest Plan and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s western Oregon plan revision, and that timber sale and fuels reduction projects in the agencies are dependent upon monitoring the owls.
While monitoring has been streamlined through the use of acoustic recorders, seasonal field workers are needed to place these recorders on the landscape. Hiring for these roles would typically happen before the spring and summer. “We need this data every year to ensure that our efforts to protect these owls and the old forests they depend on are succeeding,” Dr. Taal Levi, an associate professor of wildlife biology at Oregon State University and a collaborator on the spotted owl monitoring project, said in a statement.
