It's All About the Burrowing Owls

Blame the burrowing owls.

Fascinating little critters that they are, the tiny birds are apparently the reason Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge adopted a scorched-earth policy regarding habitat.

According to refuge personnel, the owls thrive in areas of sparse vegetation, free of grass litter. Consequently, the refuge has been logged, drained, burned and grazed to maximize owl habitat.

It appears to have worked. Two adult owls raised five babies on the 15,000-acre plus refuge this summer.

The refuge used to offer the best public-land pheasant hunting in the country before making the switch from...