Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
One of the most important protective measures for species conservation is the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, designed to protect and recover endangered and threatened species of fish, wildlife, and plants within the United States and its territories. • Information about federal laws regulating wildlife can be found online by visiting the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) laws and regulations webpage (http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/Resourcelaws.html). • Information about state regulations can be found online by visiting the North Carolina General Assembly webpage to review NC General Statutes (NCGS, GS) https://www.ncleg.gov/Laws/GeneralStatutesTOC. Subsections of the NCGS are published as NC Administrative Code (NCAC) and are also included on the General Assembly webpage. The first people of the American continent were the original environmental stewards. It is important to recognize the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI, Tribe) is a sovereign nation recognized by the United States federal government as being autonomous with its own laws. The Tribe has authority to regulate and manage the species occurring on the Cherokee Public Trust lands (e.g, Qualla Boundary). Tribal governments have a unique legal relationship with the United States and can exercise inherent sovereign governmental powers over their natural resources and tribal members (EBCI 2022) . Conserving natural resources on sovereign tribal lands poses a unique challenge where managers must consider balancing the maintenance of a unique culture and a productive economy with complex natural resource management challenges (EBCI 2022) . Federal and state agencies, including the NCWRC, work collaboratively with the EBCI on shared priorities and to benefit shared natural resources. The EBCI Natural Resources Program, Fisheries and Wildlife Management Office develops and implements the Tribe’s Wildlife Action Plan, which focuses on a social-ecological framework to adaptively manage and conserve fish and wildlife and their habitats (EBCI 2022) . Species and habitats representing conservation and cultural priorities of the Tribe have been incorporated into this SWAP. International protections are provided by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an agreement between international governments to protect wild plants and animals from becoming threatened or endangered from international trade. The United States is a participating member nation. Protection is afforded through listing of a species in one of three lists, or appendices (UNEP-WCMC 2025) .
• CITES Appendix I provides the highest protection, limiting any trade of a species on the list only to exceptional circumstances because they are threatened with extinction.
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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