Congress moves to block federal barred owl culling in three western states
S.J.Res. 69 — A joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service relating to "Record of Decision for the Barred Owl Management Strategy; Washington, Oregon, and California". · Filed by John Kennedy (R-LA) · 5 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 24, 2025 · Reported out
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What it does
This joint resolution disapproves a Fish and Wildlife Service rule authorizing the killing of barred owls in Washington, Oregon, and California as part of a management strategy. If passed, the rule would be nullified and have no legal force, blocking the agency's owl-culling program in those three states.
Why we flagged it
This is a standard CRA disapproval resolution under 5 U.S.C. § 802, a procedural mechanism allowing Congress to nullify agency rules within 60 legislative days. It does exactly one thing: block a specific Fish and Wildlife Service rule.
What the text implies
- If passed, the disapproval would prevent any future Fish and Wildlife Service attempt to reissue the same rule without new congressional action, effectively locking in the status quo for barred owl management in those three states.
- The resolution targets a rule issued as a 'record of decision' (a NEPA document), which the GAO determined qualifies as a 'rule' under the CRA—a legal determination that may signal broader CRA applicability to agency decisions previously thought exempt from congressional review.
- Blocking the rule leaves northern spotted owl recovery efforts in those states without the predator-control tool the agency deemed necessary, potentially affecting ESA compliance and recovery timelines.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens in the affected states lose a wildlife management tool that the agency believed would protect threatened northern spotted owls, but gain protection for barred owls and avoid the ecological and ethical costs of a large-scale culling program. The balance depends on one's view of predator control as conservation strategy versus the intrinsic value of barred owls and ecosystem complexity.
Named in the bill
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Congress, Government Accountability Office, Washington, Oregon, California, Northern Spotted Owl, Barred Owl
Where it stands
5 cosponsors: 5 Republicans.
- Jul 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jul 24, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works”
- Oct 15, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works discharged, by petition, pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 802(c)”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. Those filings disclosed $197,683 in lobbying spend. A filing names 9 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
John Kennedy, the sponsor, reported $113,800 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- National Parks Conservation Association — $139,430 on 1 filing
- Center for Biological Diversity — $38,253 on 1 filing
- Animal Wellness Action — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jan 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,843 characters) on Aug 21, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Dec 2025. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jan 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress moves to block federal barred owl culling in three western states” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/sjres69 Report an error
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