Barred owls …are now officially under attack themselves. Theoretically, they’ve been in danger since the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife released its barred owl management plan in 2024, announcing its intention to kill tens of thousands of barred owls per year for up to 30 years to protect the northern spotted owl and California spotted owl populations. The federal government and some environmentalist groups agree that protecting the endangered owl is necessary, but others argue it is inhumane and exists only to aid the timber industry. It’s been two years since the plan’s announcement, but only since November has a group in Washington officially begun killing barred owls… The Yakama Nation Tribe in South Central Washington has initiated barred owl management on reservation lands and is actively killing the once-protected species. They are the first and currently the only group in Washington to do so.