USFWS would list northern spotted owl as endangered—but won't because of budget woes

While Northern spotted owls deserve to be listed as an endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there are too many other priority species at this time to address that need.

"A listing proposal is precluded if the Service does not have sufficient resources available to complete the proposal, because there are competing demands for those resources, and the relative priority of those competing demands is higher," the agency said in a statement to be posted in the Federal Register on Tuesday.

[Other news reports on Tuesday said that monarch butterflies are also in this same boat.]

https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/12/usfws-northern-spotted-owl-should-be-listed-endangered-low-priority