[Typical FWS reaction to any species situation (always the result of human actions)–KILL, kill, kill!]

In desperation to save the rare northern spotted owl, biologists are doing something that goes against their core — shooting another owl that’s rapidly taking over spotted owl territory across the northwest.

“If we don’t do it, what we’re essentially doing, in my view, is dooming the spotted owl to extinction,” says Lowell Diller, senior biologist for Green Diamond, a timber company.

The decision to shoot the more aggressive barred owls has been wrenching for biologists and the federal government. But one of the biologists says the consequence of not stepping in would be so dire that it justifies what he calls this Sophie’s Choice.