The plan to kill 450,000 owls has long been a major sticking point, both for and against Republicans

A controversial plan to kill one owl cleared a major hurdle to save another.

The full Senate on Wednesday blocked a GOP effort to block the culling of up to 450,000 barred owls in the Pacific Northwest over three decades, ending a saga that has made strange political bedfellows.

It’s a big win for environmentalists and federal wildlife officials who want to protect northern spotted owls from being rounded up by their larger, more aggressive cousins. In recent weeks they’ve gained a potential ally in loggers who said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s plan to scrap the plan could prevent timber sales.

But it’s a blow to an equally unusual alliance that includes far-right politicians and animal rights advocates who argue that it’s too expensive and inhumane to do. The Trump administration relied on Republican lawmakers to stay out of the way, crossing partisan lines.

Senator John Kennedy, a conservative from Louisiana, sought to repeal the plan to kill wolves through a congressional review bill, which could be used by federal agencies to override recent regulations.

Kennedy said Interior Secretary Doug Brigham, whose portfolio includes timber production, called him recently and told him to drop the decision. Logging advocates this month said the logging shutdown would jeopardize timber production goals set by the Trump administration.

But Kennedy was not convinced.

Kennedy said on the Senate floor: “The secretary should call someone who thinks what he’s saying, because I think he’s wrong.” “I think he and other members of the administration at the Department of the Interior decided to play God.”

Like the owl portraits and cartoon hunter Elmer Fudd, Kennedy praised barred owls for their “spiritual eyes” and “wonderfully soft” feathers. But he admitted they were better hunters than spotted owls. Barred owls, introduced from eastern North America, are important birds for food and shelter in their native range.

Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana led a resolution to overturn a Biden-era plan to decommission the banned owls, even after he said the Trump administration told him to back off.

(Senate Banking Committee)

Ultimately the resolution failed 72 to 25, with three lawmakers not voting. Almost all of those who voted in favor of the resolution were Republicans, but even more Republicans voted against it. The Fish and Wildlife Service last year approved a ban on owl hunting under the Biden administration.

“I feel a lot of relief because this is the biggest threat to the long-term survival of the northern spotted owl in many years,” said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center. “We passed that hurdle, that doesn’t mean there aren’t other hurdles or roadblocks, but it feels good.”

Wheeler described the failed effort as a “nuclear threat” — if the resolution had passed, the Fish and Wildlife Service would have been barred from pursuing such legislation, unless expressly authorized by Congress.

Now Wheeler said he and his allies will continue to push to do the dive, and for federal funding to support it.

Animal welfare advocates like Wayne Pissell, director of Animal Welfare Action and the Center for Humane Economics, are alarmed.

“What this means is that not only are barred owls at great risk from mass shooting, but spotted owls and old-growth forests are at risk from chainsaws,” Pacelle said of the failed resolution.

Pacelle’s camp vowed to continue the fight. A lawsuit challenging the hunt they filed against the federal government last fall is moving forward. And they will try to make sure that money does not go to the program.

In May, federal officials canceled three related grants in California totaling more than $1.1 million, including A study It will include the removal of non-lethal barred owls from 192,000 acres in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

However, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Peter Terra, there are other projects to kill barred owls in the Golden State.

A $4.3 million grant issued by the state agency will support the removal of barricaded chickens in the northwest part of the state, along with other research. Another grant from NASA to a university involves killing barred owls in California as well as developing a tool to prioritize areas where raptors need to be managed.

Tera said in an email that it is unclear how or if the government shutdown, which has now been extended to 31 days, will affect the projects.