Lawsuits seek to stop barred owl culling, including the Bay Area

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has drawn two federal lawsuits from animal welfare groups alleging that a plan to cull invasive barred owls in national parklands — including three in Marin — violates federal law.

The “barred owl management strategy” approved in August calls for hunting and killing nearly half a million barred owls over 30 years across Washington, Oregon and California. The plan is designed to reduce social competition with the threatened Northern and California spotted owls...