Dear friend,

Did you happen to see my especially urgent email yesterday? I am pulling the fire alarm, and I want to be sure you hear it and see the flashing lights.

I shared that new, uncovered information has sent shockwaves through the conservation community and among those of us who care about animals. The federal government’s Barred Owl Management Strategy—crafted under intense pressure from the timber industry—is unraveling under scrutiny. The plan would authorize the shooting of more than 450,000 barred owls across California and the Pacific Northwest, an unprecedented assault on a native raptor species.

As I revealed, government officials and timber interests have been engaged in a conspiratorial bartering of kills—using the slaughter of barred owls as a cynical justification to allow them to kill Northern spotted owls to jack up timber cutting in the short run. This twisted logic puts crosshairs on barred owls and spotted owls and undercuts the false narrative that the two species are at odds. On the contrary, their protection is commingled. Save the barred owls and we protect the spotted owls.

The Fish and Wildlife Service is angling to kill owls. I cannot understand the mind of a person or the tilt of an agency that wants such an outcome. But that’s where we are.

Tomorrow night, we’re holding a critical, one-hour webinar to brief supporters and allies on how to prepare for next week’s expected vote on the Senate floor.

I want to give you the details, and I want to upend this phony timber industry framing of barred owls versus spotted owls. Actually, it’s a small segment of the timber industry versus West Coast forest owls.

YOU can play a role in thwarting this diabolical play by the timber industry and save almost half a million barred owls and countless spotted owls —with both species protected for more than a century by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. I’ll be joined by photographer and naturalist Heather King (aka Thee Owl Queen) and wildlife ethicist Bill Lynn from Clark University. It’s a webinar you don’t want to miss.

You’ll learn:

• The stunning new details emerging from inside the federal plan
• The legal and legislative battles unfolding in Congress and the courts
• How public outrage can still block the owl slaughter before shooters take the field

📅 Tomorrow — Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025
🕗 8–9 p.m. ET
💻 Online — Free (link provided after registration)

Can’t attend live? Register anyway — all registrants receive a full replay.

This is your chance to get the inside story, understand the stakes, and take part in a national effort to protect barred owls and demand humane, evidence-based wildlife policy.

P.S. Momentum is building fast — and lawmakers are paying attention. Tomorrow’s event will show exactly how you can help turn public outrage into decisive action to stop this misguided plan.

Wayne Pacelle President Center for a Humane Economy