Louisiana Senator John Kennedy launched a fierce challenge against the Department of Interior (DOI) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), sharply criticizing their controversial plan to lethally remove hundreds of thousands of Barred Owls to protect the Spotted Owl population in the Western U.S.
The senator announced his intent to introduce a resolution, S.J.Res. 69, to block the $1.35 billion, 30-year policy, accusing federal officials of overreaching and “trying to play God” in the ecosystem.
The plan, which anticipates the removal of approximately 453,000 Barred Owls, is framed by the USFWS as a critical measure to save the threatened Northern Spotted Owl, which is being outcompeted by the larger, more aggressive Barred Owl, an Eastern species that has expanded its range westward due to factors like deforestation.
Kennedy dismissed the agency’s rationale in strong terms, using a photograph of Elmer Fudd and the two owl species to frame the conflict.
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He argued that the Barred Owl is simply a “better hunter” and its competitive advantage is a natural, God-given ecological phenomenon.
He derided the policy as an attempt to introduce “DEI for owls” and implement “quotas for owls” by choosing one species as “good” and the other as “bad.” The senator contends that no federal agency has the right to interfere with a natural survival instinct and that the policy—which involves luring the Barred Owls with calls before shooting them—is fundamentally misguided.
Beyond the ethical and philosophical arguments, the senator highlighted significant fiscal and practical concerns.
He estimated the policy would cost taxpayers an enormous $1.35 billion over its duration. Furthermore, Kennedy argued the plan is destined to fail, asserting in a press release and in his comments that the Barred Owls would simply return and reestablish their populations once the costly removal operations stopped.
Vowing to force a vote on his Congressional Review Act resolution, Kennedy concluded by questioning the officials’ authority: “Who appointed them God?” and insisted that the program, which would kill so many birds that they would be “dead as Jimmy Hoffa,” is an inappropriate and ineffective use of taxpayer money.
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