Protecting Spotted Owls Yet Another Tussle Between Trump-Era Policies, Biden Administration

Protecting Spotted Owls Yet Another Tussle Between Trump-Era Policies, Biden Administration

The Biden administration faces another struggle with Trump-Era policies—protecting northern spotted owls.

Just five days before Trump left office, his administration stated that it would remove protection from millions of acres provided for the northern spotted owl in Oregon, Washington, and Northern California, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reversed the decision on Tuesday.

Documents given to The Associated Press showed that government biologists warned the changes previously made by the Trump Administration could have driven the spotted owl to extinction. The bird is listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. Its population has decreased by about 4 percent annually.