I have a couple a Hoot Owls living in the woods behind my house. Kinda cool to hear em. I even got pics of a big un, last year. Lemme go see if I can find the pic....
But years ago, Bureau of Land Management in CA wanted to clear a bunch of underbrush and dead trees to limit the risk for forest fires. CARB and the EPA went ballistic, said it would disturb the mating of the spotted owl, claiming it was endgangered. Raised a ton of money and the plan was scrapped. Thing is, while its numbers weren't super high, it wasn't as endangered as they once thought.