As populations of western burrowing owls decline in the state, the California Fish and Game Commission voted this week to consider placing the species on the endangered list. 

According to the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, burrowing owls have been eliminated as a breeding species from “almost all” of the California coast and are “rapidly” facing localized extinction in the Bay Area, where less than 25 breeding pairs remain. 

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.