A Hot Topic for Shasta Birding Society’s January 14th, 2026 program!!

January 14, 2026 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has embarked on a controversial control program to protect federally endangered Northern and California Spotted Owls (Stix occidentalis spps.) from displacement by the Barred Owl (Strix varia), a species native to eastern and Midwest north America. Barred Owls have been successfully competing with and displacing the federally protected Spotted Owl throughout the Pacific Northwest for many years. The FWS plans to kill up to 450,000 Barred Owls over the next 30 years to help prevent the feared extinction of the Spotted Owl. The program has been either supported or opposed by a variety of conservation organizations and individuals.

Join us at 7pm Wednesday January 14, 2026 for a special presentation, debating this controversial Barred Owl population control program! Tom Wheeler (Executive Director, Environmental Protection Information Center, Arcata, CA), and Stephen Hernick (Managing Attorney, Wildlife Law Program of Friends of Animals, Greenwood Village, CO) will (calmly) provide opposing viewpoints on this hot topic.

Location: Turtle Bay Nursery Classroom, 1100 Arboretum Dr, Redding, CA 96003