§ 4031. Plants taken from the wild

(a) The Secretary may adopt procedural rules pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act as set forth in 3 V.S.A. chapter 25, for the collection, sale, or distribution of plants taken from the wild, on the list of Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as amended, provided that the plants are not on the Vermont endangered species list. He or she may authorize surveys or other actions to determine the extent that plant collections may be undertaken without jeopardizing the survival of a plant species. He or she may classify plant species based on their populations or chances for survival and may restrict what amount, if any, of a particular species may be removed from the wild.

(b) The Secretary may enter into programs with other government agencies to allow the movement of wild collected plants in interstate and international travel.

(c) The Secretary is authorized to stop-sale, to seize, or return to the point of origin at the possessor's expense any wild plants collected, sold, or distributed in violation of this provision.

(d) The Secretary may collect a fee of $75.00 for a three-year permit to engage in commerce with plants described in subsection (a) of this section. The fee shall be credited to a special fund established and managed pursuant to 32 V.S.A. chapter 7, subchapter 5, and shall be available to the Agency to offset the costs of implementing this section. (Added 1985, No. 57, § 1; amended 2003, No. 42, § 2, eff. May 27, 2003; 2013, No. 72, § 20; 2015, No. 149 (Adj. Sess.), § 21.)