Mexican Spotted Owl USFWS photo Search Species Information Laws, Policies and Federal Register Notices ESA & What We Do  Candidate Conservation  Consultations  Grants  HCPs  International Activities  Landowner Tools  Listing  Permits  Publications  Recovery  Working with Tribes Contacts in Your Area Kid's Corner Partners in Conservation Questions? Glossary Endangered Species Program home page U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service home page		Permits for Native Species The Endangered Species Act, with some exceptions, prohibits activities affecting threatened and endangered species unless authorized by a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations—Fisheries. Your proposed activity may also require a state permit. You should contact your state wildlife agencies for additional information. Getting a Service permit is contingent upon obtaining any required state permit. Types of permits Permits for native endangered or threatened species, issued by the Endangered Species program, are of three basic types: enhancement of survival permits, associated with Safe Harbor agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances, recovery and interstate commerce permits, associated with activities such as captive breeding and research to further the recovery of a species, and incidental take permits, associated with Habitat Conservation plans. For more information and points of contact, see our fact sheet entitled "Permits for Native Species Under the Endangered Species Act" (PDF). For information on other types of Service permits, please go to the Fish and Wildlife Service Permit Page. Offices that issue permits The Service’s Endangered Species program issues permits through its Regional offices for native endangered and threatened species, except for import or export permits, which are issued by the Division of Management Authority located at our Headquarters Office in Arlington, Virginia. Permits and public comment Endangered species permits authorize actions that can potentially impact a species’ recovery. Before issuing a permit, we invite public comment on it. Federal Register announcements soliciting public comment on permit applications can be found in the Service's centralized library of Federal Register notices in the “Notices” section of each year. Comments can now be submitted online at the regulations.gov web site. Permit application forms Fish and Wildlife Service permit applications are available on the web. The Endangered Species Programs' permit applications are numbered below. Please read the instructions on how to fill out the online forms before accessing the forms. 3-200-54 for Enhancement of Survival Permits Associated with Safe Harbor Agreements and Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances 3-200-55 for Recovery Permits and Interstate Commerce Permits 3-200-56 for Incidental Take Permits Associated with Habitat Conservation Plans If you need a permit application form for a different Service program, go to the table of contents for all permit applications and scroll down the first column to find the desired form number. All of the Service's permit application form numbers begin with "3-200" and have a unique number attached to the end to identify the specific type of permit application (i.e., 3-200-54). The title of the permit application is listed in the fourth column.   Our Web Policies and Privacy Statement Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Visit FirstGov.gov for easy, one-stop access to all online U.S. Federal Government resources.