Last winter, federal officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a program to save the perpetually threatened northern spotted owl.

The problem? Invasive barred owls are crowding out our local forest -- they're bigger, and more aggressive. The solution? Culling half a million of those owls over the next 30 years.

On its face, the issue seems pretty straightforward: barred owls are invasive, and because of them, Northern spotted owls are disappearing. 

But for Jay Odenbaugh, a philosopher and ethicist, the issue brings up a bigger question: how we as humans try to intervene in a problem we're also responsible for creating.

KUOW's Diana Opong spoke with Odenbaugh about a recent op-ed he co-authored for the New York Times about how we can think more ethically about conservation. 

Guests:
Jay Odenbaugh, professor of humanities at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, OR.

Related Links:
KUOW - Why the feds want to cull barred owls in the Pacific Northwest
Opinion | To Save Some Endangered Owls, Would You Kill 500,000 Other Owls? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Feds propose shooting one owl to save another in Pacific Northwest | The Seattle Times

Last winter, federal officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a program to save the perpetually threatened northern spotted owl.
The problem? Invasive barred owls are crowding out our local forest -- they're bigger, and more aggressive. The solution? Culling half a million of those owls over the next 30 years.
On its face, the issue seems pretty straightforward: barred owls are invasive, and because of them, Northern spotted owls are disappearing. 
But for Jay Odenbaugh, a philosopher and ethicist, the issue brings up a bigger question: how we as humans try to intervene in a problem we're also responsible for creating.
KUOW's Diana Opong spoke with Odenbaugh about a recent op-ed he co-authored for the New York Times about how we can think more ethically about conservation. 
Guests:
<ul>
<li>Jay Odenbaugh, professor of humanities at Lewis &amp; Clark College in Portland, OR.</li>
</ul>
Related Links:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://m.kuow.org/stories/new-proposal-would-cull-barred-owls-to-save-native-spotted-owls">KUOW - Why the feds want to cull barred owls in the Pacific Northwest</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/08/opinion/owls-endangered-conservation-forests.html">Opinion | To Save Some Endangered Owls, Would You Kill 500,000 Other Owls? - The New York Times (nytimes.com)</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/feds-propose-shooting-one-owl-to-save-another-in-pacific-northwest/">Feds propose shooting one owl to save another in Pacific Northwest | The Seattle Times</a></li>
</ul>

Advertisement