North Carolina General Statutes 113-334. Criteria and procedures for placing animals on protected animal lists
(a) All native or resident wild animals which are on the federal lists of endangered or threatened species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act have the same status on the North Carolina protected animals lists.
(b) The Advisory Committee, after considering a report on the status of a candidate species from the Scientific Council, may by resolution propose to the Wildlife Resources Commission that a species of wild animal be added to or removed from a protected animal list.
(c) If the Commission, with the advice of the Advisory Committee, finds there is probably merit in the proposal, it shall examine relevant scientific and economic data and factual information necessary to determine:
(1) Whether any other state or federal agency or private entity is taking steps to protect the wild animal which is the subject of the proposal;
Terms Used In North Carolina General Statutes 113-334
- Advisory Committee: means the North Carolina Nongame Wildlife Advisory Committee which is the advisory body of knowledgeable and representative citizens established by resolution of the Wildlife Resources Commission and charged to consider matters relating to nongame wildlife conservation and to advise the Commission in such matters. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
- Endangered species: means any native or once-native species of wild animal whose continued existence as a viable component of the State's fauna is determined by the Wildlife Resources Commission to be in jeopardy or any species of wild animal determined to be an "endangered species" pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
- Protected animal: means a species of wild animal designated by the Wildlife Resources Commission as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
- Scientific council: means the group of scientists identified and assembled by the Advisory Committee to review the scientific evidence and to evaluate the status of wildlife species that are candidates for inclusion on a protected animal list. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories, so called; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the said district and territories and all dependencies. See North Carolina General Statutes 12-3
- Threatened species: means any native or once-native species of wild animal which is likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of its range, or one that is designated as a threatened species pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
- Wild animal: means any native or once-native nongame amphibian, bird, crustacean, fish, mammal, mollusk or reptile not otherwise legally classified by statute or regulation such as game and fur bearing animals, except those inhabiting and depending upon coastal fishing waters, marine and estuarine resources, marine mammals found in coastal fishing waters, sea turtles found in coastal fishing waters, and those declared to be pests under the Structural Pest Control Act of North Carolina of 1955 or the North Carolina Pesticide Law of 1971. See North Carolina General Statutes 113-331
(2) Whether there is present or threatened destruction, modification, or curtailment of its habitat;
(3) If there is over-utilization for commercial, recreational, scientific, or educational purposes;
(4) Whether there is critical population depletion from disease, predation, or other mortality factors;
(5) Whether alternative regulatory mechanisms exist; and
(6) The existence of other man-made factors affecting continued viability of the animal in North Carolina.
(d) The Commission, with the advice of the Advisory Committee, shall tentatively determine whether any regulatory action is warranted with regard to the proposal and, if so, the specific regulatory action to be proposed by it. Notice of its proposed rulemaking shall be published in the North Carolina Register and the subsequent proceedings shall conform with the Administrative Procedure Act. (1987, c. 382, s. 1.)