Lawmakers in the US have called on President Trump to cancel a billion-dollar plan that involves killing spotted owls to protect endangered striped owls.

Some members of Congress in Oregon urged the Trump administration on Monday to cancel the plan to kill over 450,000 invasive striped owls in the Western Coast forests.

The plan emerged as part of efforts to protect the smaller spotted owls facing the threat of extinction. As reported by the AP, 19 lawmakers led by Republican Representative Troy Nehls and Democratic Representative Sydney Kamlager-Dove stated that this plan would be “very expensive.” The lawmakers emphasized that the implementation costing $3,000 per owl could exceed a total of $1.3 billion.

SCIENTISTS UNSURE Researchers pointed out that habitat restrictions for spotted owls since the 1990s have sparked debates, but uncertainty remains on whether killing striped owls would be a solution. Native to Eastern North America, striped owls began appearing in the Pacific Northwest in the 1970s and quickly replaced spotted owls, which require larger habitats. While federal officials estimate only 7,100 spotted owls in the region, the number of striped owls has surpassed 100,000.

COSTING 1.3 BILLION DOLLARS

According to a plan approved by the US Fish and Wildlife Service last year, trained shooters would target striped owls over approximately 60,000 square kilometers in California, Oregon, and Washington over 30 years. However, the plan did not include a cost estimate.

In a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, lawmakers noted that based on the calculation from a grant provided to the Hoopa Valley Native American Tribe in California, this operation would cost more than 1.3 billion dollars.

Describing it as an “inappropriate and inefficient use of US taxpayers’ dollars,” lawmakers argued that the government’s intervention in nature and efforts to control environmental consequences at high costs would fail.

Meanwhile, officials from the US Fish and Wildlife Service have not yet responded to questions regarding cost estimates and the owl removal program. The plan includes the killing of over 2,400 striped owls by 2024 and an annual exceeding of 15,500 by 2027.