Commentary by Carmel Owls
Lasting Stewardship
As a founding member of Carmel Owls, I’d like to explain why our Great Horned Owl platform program shouldn't be limited strictly to one specific location.
One important consideration in wildlife conservation — particularly for the Great Horned Owl — is that territorial habitats are interconnected across the Monterey Peninsula. Owls do not recognize municipal boundaries. A breeding pair may roost in Carmel-by-the-Sea, hunt in Pebble Beach, and range into Monterey depending on prey availability, nesting pressure, and seasonal shifts.
Ecological Continuity
The same ecological continuity extends across Carmel Valley, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Knolls, Carmel Vista, High Meadows, Carmel Meadows, and Pacific Grove. These areas function as one continuous habitat system.
If surrounding areas become inhospitable — due to rodenticide use, habitat loss, or lack of safe nesting platforms — those pressures do not stop at the city’s border. Instead, they ripple inward and can displace that city's owls entirely. In that scenario, for example, Carmel-by-the-Sea could lose resident pairs not because its local habitat failed, but because the broader peninsula ecosystem weakened.
Peninsula-Wide Network
Strengthening adjacent territories helps stabilize the population, ultimately benefiting every city. In ecological terms, a city is not an isolated island of habitat; it is part of a peninsula-wide network. Supporting nearby communities like Pebble Beach and Monterey is not mission drift — it is protective buffering for Carmel-by-the-Sea’s own owl populations.
Our shared community goal remains keeping the Monterey Peninsula healthy, protected, and thriving. Sustaining a stable owl population in every city directly supports that mission by reducing reliance on rodenticides and reinforcing natural ecological balance.
Conservation is challenging work — whether on land, at sea, or in the air. But lasting stewardship requires us to think regionally in order to protect what we value locally.
Paul Falworth
Founding Member,
Chief Owl Officer (COO)
Phase 1, Phase 2, and Phase 3 deployments of owl platforms illustrate the continual outward expansion of coverage from Carmel by the Sea.