Environmental groups seek new protections for burrowing owls, teetering near extinction

Environmental advocates are urging the California Fish and Game Commission to protect the ‘imperiled’ populations of the western burrowing owl under the state’s Endangered Species Act.

Under a petition sent to the FGC, conservation groups sought endangered status for burrowing owls in southwestern California, central-western California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and threatened status for burrowing owls in the Central Valley and southern desert range.