Mountain View’s burrowing owl program in disarray after abrupt departure of biologists

For years, Mountain View has been at the forefront of conservation efforts to monitor and protect burrowing owls at Shoreline Park, but environmental advocates are now saying that work is in serious peril.

Since July, the two wildlife biologists who oversaw the burrowing owl and habitat enhancement programs at Shoreline have been absent from their duties, according to a statement by the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society.

“This summer, (city) staff dropped the ball,” the Audubon Society said, adding that the future of the owls and other vulnerable birds at Shoreline was now uncertain.

Mountain View Community Services Director John Marchant confirmed that the full-time biologist employed at Shoreline Park has been on administrative leave since early-July. The part-time biologist resigned from his position in July, according to the city.

A letter sent to the City Council on Aug. 14 from Assistant City Manager Audrey Seymour did not share the reasons for the biologists’ departures, stating that it was a confidential personnel matter.

The absence of the biologists at Shoreline has occurred at a critical time for the burrowing owls, just as they were supposed to be released from an “overwintering” program, according to the Audubon Society.

Sponsored by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, the program captures juvenile owls during the breeding season and keeps them protected over the winter. The owls are genetically tested and paired up in enclosures to breed and then eventually released.

The program is meant to bolster genetic diversity in the owl population, as their numbers have been dwindling for decades, which conservationists largely attribute to habitat loss. The birds roost and nest underground and are vulnerable to land encroachment and other disturbances.

“Shoreline is really one of the last remaining legacy sites in the region,” said Edmund Sullivan, executive director of Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency. He said the owls have been disappearing everywhere else.

Last year, there were only 51 adult burrowing owls in the South Bay. Of these, 17 adult owls were at Shoreline, according to the Audubon Society.

The organization claims that during the spring, as part of the overwintering program, three breeding pairs of owls were put in enclosures at Shoreline, and that the owls and their offspring were constrained in the cages several weeks after they should have been released.

However, the city maintains that the owls were released at an appropriate time on Aug. 10, consistent with previous years.

“We were working in conjunction with the Habitat Agency, and once they notified us that they needed to get in, we were able to bring them in the next day and have city staff support to make sure that transition went smoothly,” Marchant said.

The abrupt departure of the biologists also has meant that the monitoring of owls has been put on hold. Since 2019, the city has kept track of the number of burrowing owls at Shoreline. But the data is now incomplete, and such a lapse can interrupt long-term research and has local and regional implications for the owls, the Audubon Society said.

The city said it plans to resume monitoring the owls once a consulting biologist is hired.

The replacement of a full-time biologist with consultants has the Audubon Society worried. Shoreline Park is built on a 544-acre landfill maintained by the city. It often is the case that the city needs to bulldoze parts of it to maintain the site and fix methane leakages. The earthwork can easily destroy owl burrows, which are difficult to detect, especially if someone is unfamiliar with the area.

“The welfare, care, and preservation of the (burrowing owl) population at Shoreline requires expertise based on academic and professional education and in-depth, day to day knowledge of the park, the kind of knowledge that comes from being there,” the Audubon Society said.

It also notes that a full-time biologist is a requirement of the Burrowing Owl Preservation Plan, which Mountain View adopted in 2012. 

According to Marchant, the employment of consultants at Shoreline is only an interim measure.

“The biologists going out on leave was unanticipated,” he said, adding that the city does not intend to permanently replace a full-time staff position with consulting services.

The shake-up at Shoreline comes just ahead of a petition from environmental advocates in the state, who are requesting the protection of western burrowing owls in the Bay Area, as well as other parts of California, under the state’s Endangered Species Act.

The law requires that state and local agencies provide adequate mitigations for habitat loss, as well as end policies that allow for the eviction of listed species from lands slated for development.

The city said it planned to work closely with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to ensure that it adheres to any potential changes to the status of burrowing owls. It also plans to continue working in partnership with the Audubon Society.

“We do consider ourselves champions of wildlife, including the burrowing owls, and so we want to continue that good work that we have been really looked at regionally as the leader in doing these things,” Marchant said. “So, we look forward to continuing those efforts,”

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