Protecting the Once-Common Owl

Once again the Times allows its readers to vent their emotions over the plight of the northern spotted owl (July 6).

In a time of more open natural space and even actual distance between cities (euphemized now as wildlife corridors in some instances), Orange County was home to the burrowing owl.

They were a fairly common sight, standing like sentinels, alone or in family groups, atop their ground squirrel burrow homes.

Has anyone seen one lately?

Ecologically, is our open space in Southern California any less precious a resource to us and the wildlife that depend on it than the old-growth forests in the Northwest are to the northern spotted owl? Or is it just too late?

RON ROMANOSKY

Santa Ana