A petite Western burrowing owl is no match for a big bulldozer.
In a major step toward protecting the unique ground-dweller from loss of habitat around the San Francisco Bay and four other regions, the California Fish and Game Commission recently voted to make the owl a candidate for protection under the state Endangered Species Act.
That temporarily affords the owl the same protections as a state-listed endangered or threatened species and requires state and local agencies to manage threats, such as ending the state policy of allowing the increasingly rare owl’s removal from land slated for urban development. It could also require more robust mitigation for habitat loss…