384 



danger of or threatened with extinction; 



(3) these species of flsh, wildlife, and plants 

 are of esthetic, ecological, educational, historical, 

 recreational, and scientific value to the Nation 

 and its people; 



(4) the United States has pledged Itself as a 

 sovereign state in the international community 

 to conserve to the extent practicable the various 

 species of flsh or wildlife and plants facing ex- 

 tinction, pursuant to — 



(A) migratory bird treaties with Canada and 

 Mexico; 



(B) the Migratory and Endangered Bird 

 Treaty with Jai>an; 



(C) the Convention on Nature Protection 

 and Wildlife Preservation in the Western 

 Hemisphere; 



(D) the- International Convention for the 

 Northwest Atlantic Fisheries; 



(E) the International Convention for the 

 High Seas Fisheries of the North Pacific Ocean; 



(F) the Convention on International Trade in 

 Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora; 

 and 



(O) other international agreements. 



(5) encouraging the States and other interested 

 parties, through Federal financial assistance and 

 a system of Incentives, to develop and maintain 

 conservation programs which meet national and 

 international standards is a key to meeting the 

 Nation's international commitments and to bet- 

 ter safeguarding, for the benefit of all citizens, the 

 Nation's heritage in fish and wildlife. 



(b) The purposes of this chapter are to provide a 

 means whereby the ecosystems upon which en- 

 dangered species and threatened species depend may 

 be conserved, to provide a program for the conserva- 

 tion of such endangered species and threatened spe- 

 cies, and to take such steps as may be appropriate 

 to achieve the purposes of the treaties and conven- 

 tions set forth In subsection (a) of this section. 



(c) It is further declared to be the policy of Con- 

 gress that all Federal departments and agencies shall 

 seek to conserve endangered species and threatened 

 species and shall utilize their authorities in further- 

 ance of the purposes of this chapter. (Pub. L. 93-205, 

 § 2, Dec. 28, 1973, 87 Stat. 884.) 



§ 1532. Definitions. 

 For the purpose of this chapter — 



(1) The term "commercial activity" means all 

 activities of industry and trade. Including, but not 

 limited to, the buying or selling of commodities 

 and activities conducted for the purpose of facUl- 

 tating such buying and selling: Provided, how- 

 ever. That it does not include exhibition of com- 

 modities by museums or similar cultural or his- 

 torical organizations. 



(2) The terms "conserve", "conserving", and 

 "conservation" mean to use and the use of all 



■ methods and procedures which are necessary to 

 • bring any endangered species or threatened species 

 to the point at which the measures provided pur- 

 suant to this chapter are no longer necessary. 

 Such methods and procedures include, but are not 

 limited to, all activities associated with scientific 

 . resources management such as research, census, 



law enforcement, habitat acquisition and mainte- 

 nance, propagation, live trapping, and transplan- 

 tation, and, in the extraordinary case where pop- 

 ulation pressures within a given ecosystem cannot 

 be otherwise relieved, may include regulated 

 taking. 



(3) The term "Convention" means the Conven- 

 tion on International Trade in Endangered Species 

 of Wild Fauna and Flora, signed on March 3, 1973, 

 and the appendices thereto. 



(4) The term "endangered species" means any 

 species which is in danger of extinction through- 

 out all or a significant portion of its range other 

 than a species of the Class Insecta determined by 

 the Secretary to constitute a pest whose protec- 

 tion imder the provisions of this chapter would 

 present an overwhelming and overriding risk to 

 man. 



(5) The term "fish or wildlife" means any mem- 

 ber of the animal kingdom, including without lim- 

 itation any mammal, fish, bird (including any 

 migratory, nonmigratory, or endangered bird for 

 which protection Is also afforded by treaty or other 

 international agreement) , amphibian, reptile, mol- 

 lusk, crustacean, arthropod or other invertebrate, 

 and includes any part, product, egg, or offspring 

 thereof, or the dead body or parts thereof. 



(6) The term "foreign commerce" includes, 

 among other things, any transaction — 



(A) between persons within one foreign 

 country ; 



(B) between persons in two or more foreign 

 countries; 



(C) between a person within the United 

 States and a person in a foreign country; or 



(D) between persons within the United 

 States, where the fish and wildlife in question 

 are moving in any country or countries outside 

 the United States. 



(7) The term "Import" means to land on, bring 

 Into, or introduce into, or attempt to land on. 

 bring into, or introduce into, any place subject to 

 the jurisdiction of the United States, whether or 

 not such landing, bringing, or introduction consti- 

 tutes an importation within the meaning of the 

 customs laws of the United States. 



(8) The term "person" means an individual, 

 coriwratlon, partnership, trust, association, or any 

 other private entity, or any officer, employee, 

 agent, department, or instrumentality of the Fed- 

 eral Government, of any State or political subdi- 

 vision thereof, or of any foreign government. 



(9) The term "plant" means any member of the 

 plant kingdom, including seeds, roots and other 

 parts thereof. 



(10) The term "Secretary" means, except as 

 otherwise herein provided, the Secretary of the 

 Interior or the Secretary of Commerce as program 

 responsibilities are vested piu'suant to the provi- 

 sions of Reorganization Plan Numbered 4 of 1970; 

 except that with respect to the enforcement of 

 the provisions of this chapter and the Convention 

 which pertain to the importation or exportation 

 of terrestrial plants, the term means the Secre- 

 tary of Agriculture. 



(11) The term "species" includes any subspecies 

 of flsh or wildlife or plants and any other group 

 of flsh or wildlife of the same species or smaller 



