Dear Friend,

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has set into motion a grim, ghoulish plan to kill more than 450,000 North American barred owls — an unprecedented assault on a species long protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

We are committed to stopping this plan. And that’s why we need your help to pass H.J. Res. 111 and S.J. Res. 69, to halt this misguided and inhumane scheme by the federal government to wage war on these native owls.

In opinion pieces and interviews with the press, I’ve hammered on the practical arguments against the kill plan: it has a potential price tag exceeding a billion dollars, it’s doomed to fail because the “control area” is too vast and surrounded by other barred owls who will simply repopulate the area, and it’s cruel beyond measure.

Today, with the help of an extraordinary young woman who’s devoted her life to understanding owls and spreading that understanding across North America, I want to remind everyone what’s really at stake: the lives of extraordinary, intelligent, and loving creatures.

I have conducted an interview with Heather King — known as “Thee Owl Queen” — and you can read the full interview with her on our website here. But in this letter, I want to give you a flavor of what she said.

Over the past 15 years, Heather has devoted thousands of hours of fieldwork to studying owls in the forests of Ontario and Quebec. She has become one of the most recognized owl photographers and videographers in the world, dazzling hundreds of thousands of followers with her close-up glimpses into the private lives of owls.

Here are just a few of the observations she shared in our in-depth discussion about owls and the importance of stopping the FWS’s assault on them:

• “Out of all the owls I’ve observed and filmed over the last 15 years, barred owls hold my heart in a way no others do. A bonded pair is truly lifelong—they preen one another, duet, and reaffirm their bond not only during nesting but throughout the year. I will never forget watching a mother preen her chick for 20 minutes straight, returning every time he cried out in distress. It was love expressed so purely that I wept as I filmed it.”
• “Every adult killed [at the behest of the U.S. government in this plan] represents not just one death, but often an entire brood of young left to starve, to be picked off by predators, or to die frightened and alone.”
• “I’ve been studying owls for 15 years, and even experienced bird lovers constantly misidentify them. People tell me of an owl they saw, and when I probe, they almost always get the species wrong. Now imagine arming novice shooters with a half-hour training course. There’s no way they’ll consistently distinguish between barred owls, spotted owls, or their hybrids.”
• “This [barred owls colonizing forest areas where shooting and removals have occurred] is why killing cannot restore balance. The owls will always return, because they are not invaders, they are survivors. Their dispersal is not a flaw; it’s the very mechanism nature gave them to ensure their species endures.”
• “Targeting great horned owls — as some might logically propose next — would be disastrous and unworkable, creating a never-ending, cruel campaign against our native owl species.”
• “As apex predators, barred owls help regulate rodent populations, offering natural pest control that reduces crop damage and the potential spread of disease — ecological services that benefit both the environment and human communities.”
• “If I had a billion dollars to spend on owls, I would not spend a dime on bullets. Every dollar should go into life, not death. Into renewal, not erasure.”

Heather’s perspective on owls and her recognition of why the FWS’s plan is so deeply wrong reminds us that owls are not invaders or bullies; they are individuals, and these individuals make up families. They show loyalty, tenderness, resilience, and intelligence. They enrich our forests and our lives. To turn shotguns on them in the name of conservation is not only wrongheaded, it betrays the very ideals of protecting wildlife.

We are pressing lawmakers now to stop this plan before owls start dropping from the sky and from the canopies of the trees they call home. But we cannot do it without your voice.

Take action now: Urge Congress to cosponsor and pass H.J. Res. 111 and S.J. Res. 69

For the owls,