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The Burrowing Owl Preservation Society was created to educate the public and support Burrowing Owl conservation efforts.

The Institute for Bird Populations’ (IBP) 2007 California state-wide census demonstrated a decline of 8 to 10% of Burrowing Owl breeding pairs since the 1993 census. (See this link to the IBP Volume 10 for the complete census.) In Northern California, Burrowing Owls are a resident native grassland dependent species. Burrowing Owl habitat is being destroyed as grasslands are disked and paved for human housing, shopping malls and roads. And, as agricultural land is planted to orchards.

Education is the cornerstone in building public support for Burrowing Owl conservation efforts. BOPS was incorporated as an educational public non-profit 501(c)(3) as a vehicle to build broad based community support for the over-arching goal of increasing the Burrowing Owl population.

It is estimated that the majority of the remaining Burrowing Owl population is on private land. This fact makes partnerships with private land owners essential.

California cities issue building permits daily which converts hundreds of acres of Burrowing Owl habitat into other uses. City officials have broad discretionary authority under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process of mitigating for taken habitat. Participation in CEQA and educating citizens and elected officials on mitigation requirements is essential.

Our Mission

Increase the Burrowing Owl population through education and research and protection and enhancement of grassland habitat.

Goals

  • Advocate for People–Burrowing Owl compatibility
  • Private and public landholders survey land for Burrowing Owls
  • Private and public landholders assess land for potential Burrowing Owl habitat
  • Landholders enhance the land to support Burrowing Owls
  • Local governments encourage and support landholders to assess and enhance land for Burrowing Owl habitat
  • Develop and disseminate Burrowing Owl curriculum for all educational levels
  • Support Burrowing Owl research
  • Build financial resources to further goals

Objectives

  • Develop a service-learning education program
  • Develop educational materials
  • Promote learning through Burrowing Owl art
  • Develop Volunteer Corps
  • Provide community education via presentations at community venues such as libraries, schools, “eco-tainment” festivals and community fairs
  • Outreach to Colleges and Universities to offer support for Burrowing Owl researchers and lend from our library
  • Promote communication of Burrowing Owl issues and events via Facebook, web site, participation in the California Burrowing Owl Consortium and participation in the HCP/NCCP processes
  • Obtain maximum habitat mitigation through participation in lead agencies permitting and California Environmental Quality Act process
  • Offer installation of human built burrows to landowners

Board of Directors

Catherine Portman, Co-founder and CEO

Catherine earned a MS degree from UC San Francisco in nursing. She did a student Internship at California Pesticide and Environmental Toxicology and presented lectures to medical clinicians to diagnose and treat pesticide illness 1993-96. Catherine was awarded the Barbara Resnic Writing Award on indoor air quality and the Americans with Disabilities Act 1993. Catherine served on the Board of Directors of the Cache Creek Conservancy 1997 to 1999. Catherine has been actively engaged in advocating for protecting burrowing owl habitat and burrowing owl education throughout California since 2000. She coaches burrowing owl advocates on participating in the CEQA process and getting the maximum mitigations.

Sandra Menzel, Conservation Chair

Sandra Menzel is an avian ecologist and an experienced burrowing owl biologist and has worked on the conservation of this species in California since 2008. Sandra earned BA at UC Santa Cruz and MS from San Jose State University. She has monitored and managed burrowing owls and their habitat throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley. In 2014, she was the volunteer coordinator for the burrowing owl census in Yolo County. She has implemented an array of management activities, including habitat assessment and enhancement, artificial burrow installation and maintenance, supplemental feeding, and predation risk assessment. Funded by the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, her team initiated a Juvenile Burrowing Owl Overwintering Project (headstarting) in 2019 and a Burrowing Owl Captive Breeding Program in 2021.During her graduate studies, she assessed the effectiveness of artificial burrowing owl burrows as a management tool.

Rebecca Cull, Wildlife Ecologist, Treasurer

As a recognized specialist with burrowing owls and Swainson’s hawks, Rebecca has designed and conducted surveys, assisted with banding efforts, and participated in long-term monitoring of both species throughout northeastern and central California. A member of the Burrowing Owl Consortium since 1992, Ms. Cull was a key participant in the development of the Burrowing Owl Survey Protocol and Mitigation Guidelines, informally adopted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) in 1995. She is the primary author of the Status of Burrowing Owls in Northeastern California (Cull and Hall 2007).

Roxanne Moger, Secretary

Roxanne Moger completed her UC Extension Certified Naturalist training in April 2018. Her first exposure to burrowing owls was through a class lecture by the Burrowing Owl Preservation Society. Her course capstone project led her to volunteer with the Society in public education and habitat restoration efforts. As a Certified Naturalist Roxanne continues to work with naturalist trainers, conduct field observations, and assist the BOPS with observation analysis foundational to burrowing owl habitat restoration and species protection. Ms. Moger has been a BOPS Board Member since 2022.

Catherine and Sandra pulling vegetation from burrowing owl
enclosures as part of Santa Clara Valley Habitat Authority project