The Lacey Act of 1900 is a conservation law in the United States that, as amended, now prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.United States. Lacey Act (Game). , ch. 553. Approved May 25, 1900. As amended by: * Lacey Act Amendments of 1981. Approved November 16, 1981. * Captive Wildlife Safety Act. Approved December 19, 2003. * Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (2008 Farm Bill). Approved June 18, 2008. Introduced into

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

by Representative John F. Lacey, an Iowa Republican, the Act was signed into law by President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

on May 25, 1900. It now protects both

plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...

and

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

by creating civil and criminal penalties for those who violate the rules and regulations (16 U.S.C. 3371-3378). The law authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to aid in restoring game and birds in parts of the U.S. where they have become extinct or rare. It also authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to regulate the introduction of wild birds and mammals to places where they have never existed before, known as injurious wildlife species (18 U.S.C. 42). Congress broadened the law to prohibit the import, export, transport, purchase, or sale of species when that action would violate state, federal, tribal, or foreign law. A 2008 amendment added coverage for timber and timber products. Various provisions of the Act are enforced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA ) is an American scientific and regulatory agency charged with Weather forecasting, forecasting weather, monitoring oceanic and atmospheric conditions, Hydrography, charting the seas, ...

, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Forest Service.

Background

In 1900, illegal commercial hunting threatened many

game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

species in the United States. The original Act was directed at the preservation of game and wild birds, making it a federal crime to poach game in one state with the purpose of selling the bounty in another. The law prohibited the transportation of illegally captured or prohibited animals across state lines, and addressed potential problems caused by the introduction of non-native species of birds and animals into native ecosystems. Another major motivation for the Lacey Act was the over-hunting of birds for millinery work. For example, the non-discriminate killing of birds by plume hunters in search of the snowy egret contributed to the extinction of the Carolina parakeet. Today, the Lacey Act is used primarily to prevent the importation or spread of potentially injurious non-native species (18. U.S.C. 42). The Act also makes it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant in violation of the laws of the United States, a state, a

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

, or any foreign law that protects plants.

Amendments

The injurious wildlife provisions of the Lacey Act of 1900 were codified as a separate statute (18 U.S.C. 42) in 1948. Major amendments to that statute occurred in 1960 that expanded the types of wildlife that could be regulated to include fishes, reptiles, amphibians, mollusks, and crustaceans; added human beings, forestry, wildlife and wildlife resources to the interests protected; added a permit exception for species listed as injurious; and other purposes. The Lacey Act was amended on May 22, 2008, when the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 expanded its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products (Section 8204. Prevention of

Illegal Logging Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a p ...

Practices), largely championed by Senator

Ron Wyden Ronald Lee Wyden ( ; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United States Senate special el ...

(D) Oregon, with some arguing that the motivation for the act was to protect US lumber jobs and the supply-chain reporting provisions encountered opposition from the wood industry including objections to the burden of reporting. As a result, between 2009 and 2012 there was opposition to the bill, leading to the failed introduction o
RELIEF Act (2011 H.R. 3210)
which died in June 2012. This issue attained media prominence in September 2011. House Speaker John Boehner cited the Gibson Guitar controversy in his response to a speech by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. The

United States Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is a List of federal agencies in the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior which oversees the management of fish, wildlife, ...

announced a ban under the Act effective March 23, 2012, on the importation and interstate transportation of four species of constrictor snakes, due to the snakes' impact upon the Florida Everglades. In 2022, the law was amended by the "Big Cat Public Safety Act" H.R. 263 to require owners of tigers, lions, and other large cats to have a license, and to prohibit public petting of large cats and their cubs.

Enforcement actions

Gibson Guitar controversy

Gibson Guitar Corporation Gibson, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation and Gibson Brands Inc.) is an American manufacturer of Guitar manufacturing, guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashvi ...

was raided twice by federal authorities, in 2009 and 2011. Federal prosecutors seized wood from Gibson facilities, alleging that Gibson had purchased smuggled Madagascar ebony and Indian rosewood. Gibson initially denied wrongdoing and insisted that the federal government was bullying them. In August 2012, Gibson entered into a criminal enforcement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, admitting to violating the Lacey Act. The terms of the agreement required Gibson to pay a fine of $300,000 in addition to a $50,000 community payment, and to abide by the terms of the Lacey Act in the future.

Lumber Liquidators incident

For violating the Lacey Act, Lumber Liquidators was sentenced in 2016 to $7.8 million in criminal fines, $969,175 in criminal forfeiture and more than $1.23 million in community service payments for illegal lumber trafficking. The sentence also included five years of probation, and additional government oversight. The Department of Justice said it was the largest financial penalty ever issued under the Lacey Act.

References

External links

Summary of Lacey Act
- US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

- US Fish and Wildlife Service
Oversight Hearing on the 2008 Lacey Act Amendments Part 1 and 2: Oversight Hearing before the Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs of the Committee on Natural Resources, U.S. House of Representatives, One Hundred Thirteenth Congress, First Session, Thursday, May 16, 2013 (Part 1), Wednesday, July 17, 2013 (Part 2)
{{US Environmental law United States federal criminal legislation United States federal environmental legislation 1900 in American law United States federal legislation articles needing infoboxes Animal welfare and rights legislation in the United States 1900 in the environment Wildlife law in the United States Fisheries law Hunting legislation May 1900 in the United States