Source: https://www.animallaw.info/statute/ms-endangered-species-chapter-5-fish-game-and-bird-protection-and-refuges-nongame-and
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 00:10:24+00:00

Document:
These Mississippi statutes provide the short title for the Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act, the definitions for the Act, the legislative findings, and the associated regulations of the Act. Violations under the Act may incur up to a $1,000 fine and/or one-year term of imprisonment as well as equipment confiscation.
Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 shall be known and may be cited as "The Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act."
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 2, eff. July 1, 1974.
(d) That funding may be made available to the department annually by appropriations from the General Fund or from other sources separate and apart from the Fisheries and Wildlife Fund for management of nongame and endangered species.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 1; Laws 1982, Ch. 365, § 9, eff. July 1, 1982. Amended by Laws 2000, Ch. 516, § 53, eff. from and after passage (approved April 30, 2000).
The words and phrases when used in Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 shall, for the purposes of such sections, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section, except in those instances where the context clearly indicates a different meaning.
(b) "Director" means the Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks.
(d) "Endangered species" means any species or subspecies of wildlife whose prospects of survival or recruitment within the state are in jeopardy or are likely within the foreseeable future to become so, due to any of the following factors: (1) the destruction, drastic modification, or severe curtailment of its habitat, or (2) its over-utilization for scientific, commercial or sporting purposes, or (3) the effect on it of disease, pollution, or predation, or (4) other natural or man-made factors affecting its prospects of survival or recruitment within the state, or (5) any combination of the foregoing factors. The term shall also be deemed to include any species or subspecies of fish and wildlife appearing on the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife as it appears on July 1, 1974, (Part 17 of Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix D) as well as any species or subspecies of fish and wildlife appearing on the United States' List of Endangered Foreign Fish and Wildlife (Part 17 of Title 50 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix A), as such list may be modified hereafter.
(e) "Management" means the collection and application of biological information for the purposes of increasing the number of individuals within species and populations of wildlife up to the optimum carrying capacity of their habitat and maintaining such levels. The term includes the entire range of activities that constitute a modern scientific resource program including, but not limited to, research, census, law enforcement, habitat acquisition and improvement, and education. Also, included within the term, when and where appropriate, is the periodic or total protection of species or populations as well as regulated taking.
(f) "Nongame species" means any wild mammal, bird, amphibian, reptile, fish, mollusk, crustacean or other wild animal not otherwise legally classified by statute or regulation of this state.
(g) "Optimum carrying capacity" means that point at which a given habitat can support healthy populations of wildlife species, having regard to the total ecosystem, without diminishing the ability of the habitat to continue that function.
(h) "Person" means any individual, firm, corporation, association or partnership.
(i) "Take" means to harass, hunt, capture, or kill or attempt to harass, hunt, capture, or kill wildlife.
(j) "Wildlife" means any wild mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, mollusk, crustacean or other wild animal or any part, product, egg or offspring or the dead body or parts thereof.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 3, eff. July 1, 1974. Amended by Laws 2000, Ch. 516, § 54, eff. from and after passage (approved April 30, 2000).
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 4, eff. July 1, 1974; Laws 2006, Ch. 479, § 1, eff. from and after passage (approved March 27, 2006).
(b) The commission shall conduct a review of the state list of endangered species within not more than two (2) years from its effective date and every two (2) years thereafter and may amend the list by such additions or deletions as are deemed appropriate. The commission shall submit to the governor a summary report of the data used in support of all amendments to the state list during the preceding biennium.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119, it shall be unlawful for any person to take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale or ship, and for any common or contract carrier knowingly to transport or receive for shipment any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any of the following lists: (1) the list of wildlife indigenous to the state determined to be endangered within the state pursuant to subsection (a); (2) the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife as it appears on July 1, 1974 (Part 17 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix D); and (3) the United States' List of Endangered Foreign Fish and Wildlife (Part 17 of Title 50, Code of Federal Regulations, Appendix A), as such list may be modified hereafter; provided, that any species or subspecies of wildlife appearing on any of the foregoing lists which enters the state from another state or from a point outside the territorial limits of the United States and which is transported across the state destined for a point beyond the state may be so entered and transported without restriction in accordance with the terms of any federal permit or permit issued under the laws or regulations of another state.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 5, eff. July 1, 1974.
(a) The commission shall establish such programs, including acquisition of land or aquatic habitat, as are deemed necessary for management of nongame and endangered wildlife. The commission shall utilize all authority vested in the commission to carry out the purpose of this section.
(b) In carrying out programs authorized by this section, the commission may enter into agreements with federal agencies, political subdivisions of the state, or with private persons for administration and management of any area established under this section or utilized for management of nongame or endangered wildlife.
(c) The governor shall review other programs administered by him and, to the extent practicable, utilize such programs in furtherance of the purposes of this section. The governor shall also encourage other state and federal agencies to utilize their authorities in furtherance of the purposes of this section.
(d) The commission may permit, under such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by regulation, the taking, possession, transportation, exportation or shipment of species or subspecies of wildlife which appear on the state list of endangered species, on the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife, as amended and accepted in accordance with subsection (d) of section 49-5-109, or on the United States' List of Endangered Foreign Fish and Wildlife, as such list may be modified hereafter, for scientific, zoological, or educational purposes, for propagation in captivity of such wildlife, or for other special purposes.
(e) Upon good cause shown, and where necessary to alleviate damage to property or to protect human health, endangered species may be removed, captured or destroyed but only pursuant to permit issued by the commission and, where possible, by or under the supervision of an agent of the commission; provided, that endangered species may be removed, captured or destroyed without permit by any person in emergency situations involving an immediate threat to human life. Provisions for removal, capture or destruction of nongame wildlife for the purposes set forth above shall be set forth in regulations issued by the commission pursuant to subsection (a) of section 49-5-107.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 6, eff. July 1, 1974.
(a) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49-5- 107, or any regulations issued under Section 49-5-107 or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued thereunder shall be guilty of a Class I violation and punished as provided in Section 49-7-141.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49-5- 109, or any regulations issued pursuant thereto or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued under subsections (d) and (e) of Section 49-5-111 shall be fined One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or be imprisoned not more than one (1) year, or both.
(c) All law enforcement and management officers of the commission and other law enforcement officers authorized to enforce the laws of the State of Mississippi are authorized to carry out the provisions of Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119. Any officer or agent may, without warrant, arrest any person who the officer or agent has probable cause to believe is violating, in his presence or view, any section, regulation or permit provided for by Sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119. An officer or agent who has made an arrest of a person for any such violation may search the person or business records at the time of arrest and seize any wildlife, records, or property taken, or used in connection with the violation.
(d) Equipment, merchandise, wildlife, or records seized under subsection (c) of this section shall be held by an officer or agent of the commission pending disposition of court proceedings, and may be forfeited to the state for destruction or disposition as the commission may deem appropriate. Prior to forfeiture, the commission may direct the transfer of wildlife so seized to a qualified zoological, educational, or scientific institution for safekeeping, costs thereof to be assessable to the defendant. The commission is authorized to issue regulations to implement this subsection.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 7, eff. July 1, 1974.
(a) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49- 5-107, or any regulations issued under Section 49-5-107 or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued thereunder shall be guilty of a Class I violation and punished as provided in Section 49-7-141.
(b) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (c) of Section 49- 5-109, or any regulations issued pursuant thereto or whoever fails to procure or violates the terms of any permit issued under subsections (d) and (e) of Section 49-5-111 is guilty of a Class I violation and is punishable as provided under Section 49-7-141.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 8; Laws 1998, Ch. 370, § 1, eff. July 1, 1998. Amended by Laws 2002, Ch. 514, § 1, eff. July 1, 2002.
(a) None of the provisions of sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 shall be construed to apply retroactively or to prohibit importation into the state of wildlife which may be lawfully imported into the United States or lawfully taken or removed from another state or to prohibit entry into the state or possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment of any wildlife whose species or subspecies is deemed to be threatened with statewide extinction in this state but not in the state where originally taken if the person engaging therein demonstrates by substantial evidence that such wildlife was lawfully taken or removed from such state; provided, that this subsection shall not be construed to permit the possession, transportation, exportation, processing, sale or offer for sale or shipment within this state of wildlife on the United States' List of Endangered Native Fish and Wildlife, as amended and accepted in accordance with subsection (d) of section 49-5-109, except as permitted in the proviso by subsection (c) of section 49-5-109 and subsection (d) of section 49-5-111.
(b) If any provision of sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of such sections, and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 9, eff. July 1, 1974.
The cost of programs established under sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119 shall be borne by any funds or property donated or granted for such purposes by any firm, person, corporation or agency of the U.S. Government and/or from such funds as may be appropriated from time to time by the legislature; provided, further, that such funds as may be donated or granted by any firm, person, corporation or agency of the U.S. Government shall be placed in a separate fund to be known as "the endangered species protection fund" and such funds may be spent by the commission in its discretion as they become available in carrying out the provisions of sections 49-5-101 through 49-5-119. Provided, further, the commission may in its discretion have printed, issue and sell singly or in blocks of five annual editions of not more than five thousand (5,000) endangered species stamps for sale and voluntary purchase as a contribution at five dollars ($5.00) each; and funds so derived, less printing costs, shall be deposited in the endangered species fund.
Laws 1974, Ch. 512, § 10, eff. July 1, 1974.

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