The Endangered Species Act, with some exceptions, prohibits activities affecting threatened and endangered species unless authorized by a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations—Fisheries.

Your proposed activity may also require a state permit. You should contact your state wildlife agencies for additional information. Getting a Service permit is contingent upon obtaining any required state permit.

Types of Permits		Mexican Spotted Owl USFWS photo
Permits for native endangered or threatened species, issued by the Endangered Species program, are of three basic types: enhancement of survival permits, associated with Safe Harbor agreements [PDF] and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances [PDF], recovery and interstate commerce permits, associated with activities such as captive breeding and research to further the recovery of a species, and incidental take permits, associated with Habitat Conservation plans. For more information and points of contact, see our fact sheet entitled "Permits for Native Species Under the Endangered Species Act" [5/2008] [PDF].

The Service's Endangered Species program issues permits through its Regional offices for native endangered and threatened species, except for import or export permits, which are issued by the Division of Management Authority located at our Headquarters Office in Arlington, Virginia.

Endangered species permits authorize actions that can potentially impact a species’ recovery. Before issuing a permit, we invite public comment on it. Federal Register announcements soliciting public comment on permit applications can be found in the Service's centralized library of Federal Register notices in the “Notices” section of each year.

Comments can now be submitted online at the regulations.gov web site.

Permit Application Fees

The processing fee for many permit applications increased on May 11, 2005. For information on the fee increase please view the final rule [PDF] (published on Monday, April 11, 2005), or the accompanying press release.

Revised Permit Application Forms for Native Endangered & Threatened Species

Fish and Wildlife Service permit applications are available on the web. The Endangered Species Program's permit applications are numbered below. The first page is now identical for all Service permit application forms. To make the forms easier to use, most of the check box items have been moved to the front. We also added a list of Regional contacts. Please read the instructions on how to fill out the online forms before accessing the forms.

• 3-200-54 [PDF] for Enhancement of Survival Permits Associated with Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances.
NOTE: Please do not fill out or submit the application form until you contact our nearest Field Office. The Field Office will provide guidance on developing complete and adequate application materials and will determine when the application form and materials are ready for submission.
• 3-200-55 [PDF] for Recovery Permits and Interstate Commerce Permits
• 3-200-56 [PDF] for Incidental Take Permits Associated with Habitat Conservation Plans.
NOTE: Please do not fill out or submit the application form until you contact our nearest Field Office. The Field Office will provide guidance on developing complete and adequate application materials and will determine when the application form and materials are ready for submission.

If you need a permit application form for a different Service program, go to our main permit web page.