Remember the burrowing owls that adopted the abandoned development site in Antioch? Beaver friend Scott Artis of JournOwl wrote about them on his website, and followed up with an article in the Contra Costa Times and the MDAS Audubon newsletter. The owls were threatened by the removal of fencing which had offered them protection and kept the traffic and dumping away. Scott worked hard to get the city to force the developer to replace the fencing.

He wrote yesterday that he received the mitigation/relocation report from the city. It read:

The California Dept. of Fish & Game (CDFG) has signed off on the plan and provided them with a letter to proceed with eviction. Communication from the developer in September indicated that they will move forward with construction in Spring 2010. The report dictates that the passive relocation timeframe is Oct. 1, 2009 -Feb 1, 2010. The CDFG has not yet approved eviction for Oct. 1, 2010 to Feb 1, 2011 for any owls that show up or remain after initial relocation efforts, etc.

In short, the owls will be passively relocated through the use of one-way doors and the California ground squirrel population on the land will be fumigated. Unfortunately, the owls will not be tracked or checked up on after their eviction. I have provided details and excerpts from the document at http://journowl.com/index.php/archives/1063

I guess its a kind of victory that Scott was able to get anyone to pay attention to the owls at all, and passive relocation is definitely better than active destruction. But his email made me very sad. Does Fish and Game ever say anything but “yes”? Okay, kill the woodpeckers. Kill the beavers. Evict the burrowing owls. How about advising cities to work on accommodating their animal population? How many cities know of a nesting ground for 4 pairs of burrowing owls? Are there any cities that would like a greater mouse population? Why not make the owls into a feature of the housing project? You could call it the complex the “Burrows” and have an owl logo on your street signs. Children could learn about them in school and there could even be a local TV station Owl Cam. Antioch could be famous as a friend to owls, instead of only boasting a gloriously corrupt Redevelopment Agency.

Aside from the fact that the city is ignoring a precious resource it is lucky to possess in favor of the almighty dollar, it is startling that permission is so cheerfully given to evict “this species of special concern” by CDFG. As Scott said, clearly the owls are a “species of not so much special concern”. No effort will be made to track them to make sure they relocate into safe stable territory. The holes will be blocked with one way doors, and after two days the burrows will be collapsed. (I guess following the foreclosure model practiced heavily in Antioch where people leave their homes in uninhabitable states and strip every sell-able thing from the walls.)

After which, the ground squirrels will be fumigated. No story is complete without the dramatic death of a rodent. The fact that the squirrels are a keystone species and provide food and burrows for all manner of animals is really just a bonus.

I’m sorry for your owls, Scott. I know its sad to lose site of them, but know in your heart that getting them the attention you did was no small feat for a city that is known for the most famous harboring of a kidnapped child in history. Getting Antioch to pay attention to anything but outbuilding is a lion’s struggle. The owls were lucky to have you.