(a) General prohibitions. Except as provided in a permit issued pursuant to § 17.62 or § 17.63, it is unlawful for any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States to commit, to attempt to commit, to solicit another to commit, or to cause to be committed, any of the acts described in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this section in regard to any endangered plant.

(b) Import or export. It is unlawful to import or to export any endangered plant. Any shipment in transit through the United States is an importation and an exportation, whether or not it has entered the country for customs purposes.

(c) Remove and reduce to possession. (1) It is unlawful to remove and reduce to possession any endangered plant from an area under Federal jurisdiction; maliciously damage or destroy the species on any such area; or remove, cut, dig up, or damage or destroy the species on any other area in knowing violation of any law or regulation of any State or in the course of any violation of a State criminal trespass law.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1) of this section, any employee or agent of the Service, any other Federal land management agency, or a State conservation agency who is designated by their agency for such purposes may, when acting in the course of official duties, remove and reduce to possession endangered plants from areas under Federal jurisdiction without a permit if such action is necessary to:

(i) Care for a damaged or diseased specimen;

(ii) Dispose of a dead specimen; or

(iii) Salvage a dead specimen that may be useful for scientific study.

(3) Any removal and reduction to possession pursuant to paragraph (c)(2) of this section must be reported in writing to the Office of Law Enforcement, via contact methods listed at https://www.fws.gov, within 5 calendar days. The specimen may only be retained, disposed of, or salvaged under directions from the Office of Law Enforcement.

(4) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1) of this section, any qualified employee or agent of a State conservation agency that is a party to a cooperative agreement with the Service in accordance with section 6(c) of the Act, who is designated by their agency for such purposes, may, when acting in the course of official duties, remove and reduce to possession from areas under Federal jurisdiction those endangered plants that are covered by an approved cooperative agreement for conservation programs in accordance with the cooperative agreement, provided that such removal is not reasonably anticipated to result in:

(i) The death or permanent damage of the specimens;

(ii) The removal of the specimen from the State where the removal occurred; or

(iii) The introduction of the specimen so removed, or of any propagules derived from such a specimen, into an area beyond the historical range of the species.

(d) Interstate or foreign commerce. It is unlawful to deliver, receive, carry, transport, or ship in interstate or foreign commerce, by any means whatsoever, and in the course of a commercial activity, an endangered plant.

(e) Sale or offer for sale. (1) It is unlawful to sell or to offer for sale in interstate or foreign commerce any endangered plant.

(2) An advertisement for the sale of any endangered plant which carries a warning to the effect that no sale may be consummated until a permit has been obtained from the Service, shall not be considered an offer for sale within the meaning of this paragraph.