The Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) is one of the most iconic species in the Pacific Northwest. The Strix occidentalis caurina is an umbrella species representing hundreds of rare plants and animals that depend on old-growth and mature forests for survival. Over thirty years ago, it was protected as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). It was responsible for spurring the creation of the Northwest Forest Plan and changing national forest management on nearly 25 million acres in Washington, Oregon, and California.

In May 2025, EPIC and allies intervened in a lawsuit brought by the timber industry and counties seeking to strip northern spotted owls of protections for their critical habitat across millions of acres of forests.

?This is a tired story: the timber industry attempting to game the legal system to expand logging on our public lands,? said Tom Wheeler, executive director of the Environmental Protection Information Center. ?Unfortunately for them, they have to come through us first. We have stood up for the northern spotted owls and science for decades and we aren?t backing down.?