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When
I tell people what I cover for the Los
Angeles Times, they’re delighted. A
typical response is, “Sounds like fun!”
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My
beat is focused on wildlife and the
outdoors. And in this world of fierce
contention, over seemingly everything,
it sounds downright peachy.
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This
is plenty of joy and wonder in
the work. I’ve reported on the rehabilitation
of a fuzzy baby sea otter by a
surrogate mom and the resurgence of a
rare songbird along the L.A.
River.
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However,
there is also plenty of strife, messy
politics and difficult decisions. (My
inbox reflects the high emotion. I get
hate and love mail, just like other
reporters.)
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Take
a saga I’ve been writing about for more
than a year concerning a plan by federal
wildlife officials to shoot up to
nearly half a million barred owls over
three decades to save spotted owls in
California, Washington and Oregon. Even
someone who knows nothing about the
matter can guess it’s controversial.
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Since
the strategy was approved last year by
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
animal rights groups have fought to
stop it, gaining traction with
some U.S. lawmakers. Bipartisan
legislators signed onto letters urging the
Trump administration to cancel it,
citing costs they said could top $1
billion. Then, this summer, Republicans
in the House and Senate introduced
resolutions that, if successful,
would overturn the plan for good.
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It
was a nightmare scenario for
environmental nonprofits, which
acknowledge the moral quandary involved
with killing so many animals, but say
the barred owl population must be kept
in check to prevent the extinction of
the northern spotted owl, which is being
muscled out of its native territory by
its larger, more aggressive cousin. They
also dispute that ten-figure price tag.
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Then,
at the eleventh hour, there was an upset
in alliances. Logging advocates said
canceling the plan could hinder timber
sales in Oregon, and threaten production
goals set by the Trump administration.
That’s right: Loggers were now on the
same side as conservationists, while
right-wing politicians were aligned with
animal welfare activists. Talk about unlikely,
uncomfortable political bedfellows.
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The
loggers’ plea may have tipped the
scales. Louisiana Republican John
Kennedy, who spearheaded the Senate
resolution, said Interior Secretary Doug
Burgum — whose portfolio includes timber
— personally asked him to abandon the
effort. Kennedy, in colorful terms,
declined to back down. He called the
planned cull “DEI for owls” and said
Burgum “loves it like the devil loves
sin.” The resolution
didn’t pass, splitting the
Republican vote almost down the middle.
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You
don’t have to go to Washington, D.C., to
find epic battles over wildlife
management.
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In
California, there’s been much discussion
in recent years about the best way to
live alongside large predators such as mountain lions
and wolves.
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Wolves
in California were wiped out by people
about a century ago, and they started to
recolonize the state only 14 years ago.
The native species’ resurgence is
celebrated by conservationists but
derided by many ranchers who say the
animals are hurting their bottom line
when they eat their cattle.
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State
wildlife officials recently euthanized
four gray wolves in the
northern part of the state that were
responsible for 70 livestock losses in
less than six months, my colleague Clara
Harter reported, marking the latest
flashpoint in the effort to manage them.
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“Wolves
are one of the state’s most iconic
species and coexistence is our
collective future,” said Charlton
Bonham, director of the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife. “But
that comes with tremendous
responsibility and sometimes hard
decisions.”
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Even
hulking herbivores such as wild horses
stir passionate disagreement.
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In
the Eastern Sierra last month, I walked
among dozens of multi-colored equines
with members of local Native American
tribes, who told me of their deep
connection to the animals — and their
heartbreak over U.S. government plans to
send them away.
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Federal
officials say the herd has surged to
more than three times what the landscape
can support, and pose a safety hazard on
highways, while also damaging Mono
Lake’s unique geologic formations. Under
a plan approved earlier this year,
hundreds are slated to be rounded up and
removed.
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A
coalition that includes local tribes —
which have cultural ties to the animals
that go back generations — disputes many
of these claims and argues that the
removal plan is inhumane.
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“I
wish I had a magic wand and could solve
it all,” Beth Pratt, of the National
Wildlife Federation, told me after my article on
the horses was published.
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Stay
tuned. I’ll be writing this newsletter
about once a month to dig into important
wildlife stories in the Golden State and
beyond. Send me feedback, tips and cute
cat photos at lila.s...@latimes.com.
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More
recent wildlife news
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Speaking
of wolves: The Trump administration ordered
Colorado to stop importing gray
wolves from Canada as part
of the state’s efforts to restore the
predators, a shift that could hinder
plans for more reintroductions this
winter, according to the Associated
Press’ Mead Gruver. The state has been
releasing wolves west of the Continental
Divide since 2023.
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More
than 17,000 acres of ancestral
lands were returned to the Tule
River Indian Tribe, which
will allow for the reintroduction of
Tule elk and the protection of habitat
for California condors, among other
conservation projects, my colleague
Jessica Garrison reports.
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Gov.
Gavin Newsom’s office called it “the
largest ancestral land return in the
history of the region and a major step
in addressing historical wrongs against
California Native American tribes.”
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One
year after the discovery of golden
mussels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta, dense colonies cling to boats and
piers, threatening water for cities and
farms — and there’s no
help on the way, reports
CalMatters’ Rachel Becker. State
agencies have prioritized protecting
other areas in the state from the
infested Delta, the hub of the state’s
water supply.
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Will
traditional holiday fare such as crab
cakes be on the menu this year? As
fellow Times reporter Susanne Rust
writes, the need to protect humpback
whales in California’s coastal waters,
combined with widespread domoic acid
contamination along the northern coast,
has once again put the
brakes on the Dungeness crab
commercial fishery and parts
of the recreational fishery this fall.
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A
few last things in climate news
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My
colleague Ian James wrote about a big
shift in where L.A. will get its water:
The city will double the size
of a project to transform wastewater
into purified drinking water, producing
enough for 500,000 people. The recycled
water will allow L.A. to stop taking
water from creeks that feed Mono Lake,
promising to resolve a long-running
environmental conflict.
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California’s
proposed Zone Zero regulations, which
would force homeowners to create an
ember-resistant area around their
houses, have stirred backlash. One
provision causing consternation may
require the removal of healthy plants
from within five feet of their homes,
which some say isn’t backed by science.
Those in favor of the rules say they’re
key to protecting dwellings from
wildfires. Now, as The Times’ Noah
Haggerty explains, state officials appear
poised to miss a Dec. 31 deadline
to finalize the regulations.
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Clean
energy stocks have surged
50% this year, significantly
outpacing broader market gains despite
Trump administration policies targeting
the sector, Bloomberg reports. Demand
for renewable power to fuel artificial
intelligence data centers and China’s
aggressive clean-tech expansion are
driving the rally.
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Park
rangers furloughed by the federal
shutdown are teaching
preschoolers and elementary school
students about nature,
earning some extra income, my colleague
Jenny Gold reports.
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One
more thing
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If
you’re not quite ready to let go of the
Halloween mood, I have good news.
November generally marks the end
of tarantula mating season. As I
reported, male tarantulas strike out
every year from their burrows in search
of a lover. Finding one can be fatal,
whether she’s in the mood or not.
Females are known to snack on their
suitors. Gulp.
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While
the arachnids inhabit areas such as the
Angeles National Forest and Santa Monica
Mountains year-round, mating season —
when the males are on the move — offers
the best opportunity to spot one.
Through the month of November, you can
also gaze at them at the Natural History
Museum’s spider
pavilion.
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This
is the latest edition of Boiling
Point, a newsletter about climate
change and the environment in the
American West. Sign up here
to get it in your inbox.
And listen to our Boiling Point
podcast here.
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For
more wildlife and outdoors news,
follow Lila Seidman at @lilaseidman.bsky.social
on Bluesky and @lila_seidman
on X.
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