[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 50, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2006]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 50CFR17.3]

[Page 6-8]
 
                    TITLE 50--WILDLIFE AND FISHERIES
 
 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE 
                          INTERIOR (CONTINUED)
 
PART 17_ENDANGERED AND THREATENED WILDLIFE AND PLANTS--Table of Contents
 
              Subpart A_Introduction and General Provisions
 
Sec.  17.3  Definitions.

    In addition to the definitions contained in part 10 of this 
subchapter, and unless the context otherwise requires, in this part 17:
    Act means the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531-1543; 
87 Stat. 884);
    Adequately covered means, with respect to species listed pursuant to 
section 4 of the ESA, that a proposed conservation plan has satisfied 
the permit issuance criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA for 
the species covered by the plan, and, with respect to unlisted species, 
that a proposed conservation plan has satisfied the permit issuance 
criteria under section 10(a)(2)(B) of the ESA that would otherwise apply 
if the unlisted species covered by the plan were actually listed. For 
the Services to cover a species under a conservation plan, it must be 
listed on the section 10(a)(1)(B) permit.
    Alaskan Native means a person defined in the Alaska Native Claims 
Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 1603(b) (85 Stat. 588)) as a citizen of the 
United States who is of one-fourth degree or more Alaska Indian 
(including Tsimshian Indians enrolled or not enrolled in the Metlaktla 
Indian Community), Eskimo, or Aleut blood, or combination thereof. The 
term includes any Native, as so defined, either or both of whose 
adoptive parents are not Natives. It also includes, in the absence of 
proof of a minimum blood quantum, any citizen of the United States who 
is regarded as an Alaska Native by the Native village or town of which 
he claims to be a member and whose father or mother is (or, if deceased, 
was) regarded as Native by any Native village or Native town. Any 
citizen enrolled by the Secretary pursuant to section 5 of the Alaska 
Native Claims Settlement Act shall be conclusively presumed to be an 
Alaskan Native for purposes of this part;
    Authentic native articles of handicrafts and clothing means items 
made by an Indian, Aleut, or Eskimo that are composed wholly or in some 
significant respect of natural materials and are significantly altered 
from their natural form and are produced, decorated, or fashioned in the 
exercise of traditional native handicrafts without the use of 
pantographs, multiple carvers, or similar mass-copying devices. Improved 
methods of production utilizing modern implements such as sewing 
machines or modern techniques at a tannery registered pursuant to Sec.  
18.23(c) of this subchapter (in the case of marine mammals) may be used 
as long as no large-scale mass production industry results. Traditional 
native handicrafts include, but are not limited to, weaving, carving, 
stitching, sewing, lacing, beading, drawing, and painting. The formation 
of traditional native groups, such as cooperatives, is permitted as

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long as no large-scale mass production results;
    Bred in captivity or captive-bred refers to wildlife, including 
eggs, born or otherwise produced in captivity from parents that mated or 
otherwise transferred gametes in captivity, if reproduction is sexual, 
or from parents that were in captivity when development of the progeny 
began, if development is asexual.
    Captivity means that living wildlife is held in a controlled 
environment that is intensively manipulated by man for the purpose of 
producing wildlife of the selected species, and that has boundaries 
designed to prevent animal, eggs or gametes of the selected species from 
entering or leaving the controlled environment. General characteristics 
of captivity may include but are not limited to artificial housing, 
waste removal, health care, protection from predators, and artificially 
supplied food.
    Changed circumstances means changes in circumstances affecting a 
species or geographic area covered by a conservation plan or agreement 
that can reasonably be anticipated by plan or agreement developers and 
the Service and that can be planned for (e.g., the listing of new 
species, or a fire or other natural catastrophic event in areas prone to 
such events).
    Conservation plan means the plan required by section 10(a)(2)(A) of 
the ESA that an applicant must submit when applying for an incidental 
take permit. Conservation plans also are known as ``habitat conservation 
plans'' or ``HCPs.''
    Conserved habitat areas means areas explicitly designated for 
habitat restoration, acquisition, protection, or other conservation 
purposes under a conservation plan.
    Convention means the Convention on International Trade in Endangered 
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, TIAS 8249.
    Enhance the propagation or survival, when used in reference to 
wildlife in captivity, includes but is not limited to the following 
activities when it can be shown that such activities would not be 
detrimental to the survival of wild or captive populations of the 
affected species:
    (a) Provision of health care, management of populations by culling, 
contraception, euthanasia, grouping or handling of wildlife to control 
survivorship and reproduction, and similar normal practices of animal 
husbandry needed to maintain captive populations that are self-
sustaining and that possess as much genetic vitality as possible;
    (b) Accumulation and holding of living wildlife that is not 
immediately needed or suitable for propagative or scientific purposes, 
and the transfer of such wildlife between persons in order to relieve 
crowding or other problems hindering the propagation or survival of the 
captive population at the location from which the wildlife would be 
removed; and
    (c) Exhibition of living wildlife in a manner designed to educate 
the public about the ecological role and conservation needs of the 
affected species.
    Endangered means a species of wildlife listed in Sec.  17.11 or a 
species of plant listed in Sec.  17.12 and designated as endangered.
    Harass in the definition of ``take'' in the Act means an intentional 
or negligent act or omission which creates the likelihood of injury to 
wildlife by annoying it to such an extent as to significantly disrupt 
normal behavioral patterns which include, but are not limited to, 
breeding, feeding, or sheltering. This definition, when applied to 
captive wildlife, does not include generally accepted:
    (1) Animal husbandry practices that meet or exceed the minimum 
standards for facilities and care under the Animal Welfare Act,
    (2) Breeding procedures, or
    (3) Provisions of veterinary care for confining, tranquilizing, or 
anesthetizing, when such practices, procedures, or provisions are not 
likely to result in injury to the wildlife.
    Harm in the definition of ``take'' in the Act means an act which 
actually kills or injures wildlife. Such act may include significant 
habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures 
wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, 
including breeding, feeding or sheltering.
    Incidental taking means any taking otherwise prohibited, if such 
taking is

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incidental to, and not the purpose of, the carrying out of an otherwise 
lawful activity.
    Industry or trade in the definition of ``commercial activity'' in 
the Act means the actual or intended transfer of wildlife or plants from 
one person to another person in the pursuit of gain or profit;
    Native village or town means any community, association, tribe, clan 
or group;
    Operating conservation program means those conservation management 
activities which are expressly agreed upon and described in a 
conservation plan or its Implementing Agreement, if any, and which are 
to be undertaken for the affected species when implementing an approved 
conservation plan, including measures to respond to changed 
circumstances.
    Population means a group of fish or wildlife in the same taxon below 
the subspecific level, in common spatial arrangement that interbreed 
when mature;
    Properly implemented conservation plan means any conservation plan, 
Implementing Agreement and permit whose commitments and provisions have 
been or are being fully implemented by the permittee.
    Property owner with respect to agreements outlined under Sec. Sec.  
17.22(c), 17.22(d), 17.32(c), and 17.32(d) means a person with a fee 
simple, leasehold, or other property interest (including owners of water 
or other natural resources), or any other entity that may have a 
property interest, sufficient to carry out the proposed management 
activities, subject to applicable State law, on non-Federal land.
    Specimen means any animal or plant, or any part, product, egg, seed 
or root of any animal or plant;
    Subsistence means the use of endangered or threatened wildlife for 
food, clothing, shelter, heating, transportation and other uses 
necessary to maintain the life of the taker of the wildlife, or those 
who depend upon the taker to provide them with such subsistence, and 
includes selling any edible portions of such wildlife in native villages 
and towns in Alaska for native consumption within native villages and 
towns;
    Threatened means a species of wildlife listed in Sec.  17.11 or 
plant listed in Sec.  17.12 and designated as threatened.
    Unforeseen circumstances means changes in circumstances affecting a 
species or geographic area covered by a conservation plan or agreement 
that could not reasonably have been anticipated by plan or agreement 
developers and the Service at the time of the conservation plan's or 
agreement's negotiation and development, and that result in a 
substantial and adverse change in the status of the covered species.
    Wasteful manner means any taking or method of taking which is likely 
to result in the killing or injury of endangered or threatened wildlife 
beyond those needed for subsistence purposes, or which results in the 
waste of a substantial portion of the wildlife, and includes without 
limitation the employment of a method of taking which is not likely to 
assure the capture or killing of the wildlife, or which is not 
immediately followed by a reasonable effort to retrieve the wildlife.

[40 FR 44415, Sept. 26, 1975, as amended at 42 FR 28056, June 1, 1977; 
44 FR 54006, Sept. 17, 1979; 46 FR 54750, Nov. 4, 1981; 47 FR 31387, 
July 20, 1982; 50 FR 39687, Sept. 30, 1985; 63 FR 8870, Feb. 23, 1998; 
63 FR 48639, Sept. 11, 1998; 69 FR 24092, May 3, 2004; 71 FR 46870, Aug. 
15, 2006]