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A northern spotted owl perches on a snow covered branch.

Photo by Jared Hobbs

B.C.
In progress

Fighting to protect the last remaining wild-born Spotted Owl

April 8, 2021

Before industrial logging in British Columbia, there were an estimated 500 pairs of spotted owls living in the old growth forests in southwest B.C. As of May 2023, there is only one known surviving owl in the wild. Two captive-bred owls released last fall were found dead.  

This dramatic decline of the species, led Ecojustice to send a letter to the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change – Steven Guilbeault in October 2020, demanding he recommend emergency order protections under the Species at Risk Act.

On behalf of Wilderness Committee, Ecojustice argued that decades of provincial mismanagement had left spotted owls without legal protection and decimated the old-growth forests where they once lived.

In February 2021, thanks to the leadership of the Spo’zem First Nation and with support from Ecojustice and Wilderness Committee, the provincial government announced a one-year halt to all logging within the forests of Spô’zêm First Nation territory, specifically the Spuzzum and Utzlius watersheds. The protection of these watersheds was extended to February 2023. These watersheds are home to the last known wild spotted owl in Canada.

Despite the short-term win, no permanent solution was proposed by the provincial government to protect spotted owls and their habitat.

That’s why in October 2022, Ecojustice, on behalf of Wilderness Committee, once again called on the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change to fulfil his legal responsibility to protect this species and their habitat by recommending an emergency order to protect the habitat necessary for spotted owl to survive and recover.

In February 2023, Minister Guilbeault formed the opinion that the species faced an imminent risk to its survival and recovery. Guilbeault determined that 2,500 hectares of spotted owl habitat, necessary for the species’ recovery, was at risk of being logged within the year. Ecojustice and the Wilderness Committee urged the minister to recommend to cabinet the issuing of an emergency order to immediately stop all logging in the critical habitat of the spotted owl. However, the minister delayed.

So, in June 2023 as logging operations got underway in spotted owl habitat, Ecojustice on behalf of Wilderness Committee once again filed a motion for a court hearing to force the minister to recommend to cabinet the immediate issuing of an emergency order to halt logging.

October 2023, on the eve of the scheduled court hearing to argue for the immediate recommendation of the emergency order, Federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault finally recommended cabinet make an emergency order, however cabinet refused to issue one. Ecojustice proceeded to the hearing nonetheless, with the intention of getting clarity on whether the minister’s eight-month delay in recommending this emergency order to cabinet is permitted under the federal Species at Risk law. Currently, we await the judge’s ruling on this matter.

There is only one spotted owl left in the wild in all of Canada.

Spotted owls need old growth forest to survive and recover. Despite this, the B.C. government continues to allow logging in spotted owl habitat through the province’s own logging agency, BC Timber Sales. Additionally, B.C. is one of the few provinces that lacks a standalone law to protect endangered species – even though it is home to more than 2,000 species at risk.

Without federal intervention to protect the species, Ecojustice and Wilderness Committee argue, spotted owls — and their old-growth forest habitat — are at serious risk of disappearing from the wild.

Jun 2024
A spotted owl flies at night with outspread wings
press release

Historic win for Spotted Owl as Federal Court finds Guilbeault’s delay in recommending emergency protections unlawful

Precedent-setting decision an outcome of 25-year struggle by conservation groups to save the Spotted Owl from extirpation in Canada VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — The Wilderness Committee, represented by environmental law charity Ecojustice, is celebrating a historic and critical win for the Spotted Owl and all at-risk species.
Oct 2023
A spotted owl turns to face the camera as it sits on a treebranch
press release

Critical Spotted Owl hearing in federal court today to argue Minister Guilbeault’s delay to protect diminishing habitat unlawful

This historic hearing is a culmination of more than 25 years of efforts by the group to save the spotted owl from extirpation in Canada.
Oct 2023
A northern spotted owl perches on a snow covered branch.
press release

Feds reject spotted owl emergency order despite ongoing habitat destruction

Environmental groups critical of decision given active logging approvals by BC.
Jun 2023
Spotted owl
press release

Group launches legal action to force Minister Steven Guilbeault to protect the critically endangered spotted owl 

Group says Guilbeault has failed to fulfil his duty to recommend to federal cabinet the issuing of an emergency order to protect the species.
Feb 2023
A spotted owl turns to face the camera as it sits on a treebranch
press release

Minister Guilbeault recommends emergency order to protect the critically at-risk Spotted Owl

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mes and Sel̓íl̓witulh TERRITORIES — After decades of work to protect spotted owl habitat, on 23rd February, Wilderness Committee, Ecojustice and Spô’zêm Nation learned that federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change Steven Guilbeault is recommending an emergency order to protect the at-risk species from imminent threats to its survival and recovery.
Oct 2022
A northern spotted owl perches on a snow covered branch.
press release

Environmental groups petition feds to protect critical habitat of last spotted owls

Recovery of species in Canada hinges on successful reintroduction of captive spotted owls to protected habitats VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh AND səlilwətaɬ TERRITORIES — Ecojustice, on behalf of the Wilderness Committee, is demanding the federal government live up to their legal responsibility to protect endangered spotted owls and their habitat in British Columbia.
Feb 2021
Spotted owl by Jared Hobbs
press release

Spô’zêm First Nation and environmental groups celebrate halt to logging in forests where last three spotted owls live

Groups say this gives the nearly extirpated species a shot at survival VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mes and Sel̓íl̓witulh TERRITORIES — Today the B.
Oct 2020
Spotted owl by Jared Hobbs
press release

Ecojustice, Wilderness Committee demand federal emergency protections for dwindling northern spotted owls

VANCOUVER / UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mes and Sel̓íl̓witulh TERRITORIES – Canada is down to the last pair of spotted owls in the wild — and B.
Jan 2010
press release

Environmental groups launch federal court case in historic bid to save Spotted Owl

In an effort to prevent the extinction of the spotted owl in Canada, leading environmental groups announced they have filed the first legal action of its kind under Canada's Species at Risk Act, demanding the federal government intervene to protect the critically endangered bird in British Columbia.