The last California spotted owl has been killed by the ongoing wildfires in the state caused by logging restrictions to protect spotted owls, state officials reported.

“It’s a sad day in conservation,” Billy Jackface of the California Wildlife and Fisheries Administration said. “First, my home got burnt down and now we’ve lost all the spotted owls from the state.”

Logging restrictions were put in place to maintain the natural habitat of the endangered spotted owl. But those restrictions allowed for old and dead trees that are more susceptible to wildfires. Given the right conditions, the wildfires set off the tinderbox that the regulations set up.

Governor Gavin Newsom blamed the wildfires on climate change.

“It’s clear that these fires are totally new since we started advocating against climate change. And increase of .5 degrees is enough to create more devastating fires. It totally doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that we created an artificial tinderbox of dead wood throughout our forests,” Newsom said.

When asked whether the administration should alter the conservation strategy, Newsom replied, “No. Never. That would mean that we were wrong. We’re never wrong.”

Newsom has taken the drastic step of banning wildfires from the state.

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