Native Plant Program

Permits for Threatened and Endangered Plant Species

CDFW may authorize the “take”, possession, import, or export of some plants that are protected by California law. CDFW may authorize take and possession for scientific, educational or management purposes, or authorize “take” that is incidental to otherwise lawful activities if certain conditions are met. CDFW issues most of these permits to individuals to identify, document and voucher listed plant species, typically during botanical surveys, and may also issue permits to individuals or organizations for other scientific, educational or management purposes, most typically research or recovery actions for state-listed plant species. CDFW also partners with several botanic gardens and other institutions for ex-situ or “off-site” conservation of rare, threatened, and endangered plant species, and several California herbaria have collections of rare, threatened, and endangered plant specimens. See a list of facilities that have active agreements with CDFW.

• Voucher Collection Permit. A voucher collection permit is required to collect threatened and endangered plant species for identification purposes during field surveys, or to collect voucher specimens to document a newly-discovered or previously unvouchered occurrence of a listed plant. There is no charge to apply for a voucher collection permit.
  • Voucher Collecting Permit Application (PDF)
  • Annual Report Form for Voucher Collecting Permit (PDF)
  • To assist botanists during field surveys, CDFW has also prepared Protocols for Surveying and Evaluating Impacts to Special Status Native Plant Populations and Natural Communities (PDF)
• Scientific, Educational, or Management Permit. A scientific, educational or management permit is required for such activities not authorized by a plant voucher collection permit. These permits are required for all research on state-listed plant species, including collection of seed for propagation or recovery actions. Any individual or organization that will be conducting research on state-listed plant species, or will otherwise need to “take”, possess, import or export state-listed plant species for scientific, educational or management purposes, must submit a proposal to CDFW that contains the information identified in the document below. There is no charge to apply for a scientific, educational, or management permit.
  • Guidelines for Conducting Research on Rare, Threatened and Endangered Plants and Plant Communities and Proposal Format for Research Projects Involving State-Listed Plant Species (PDF)
• Incidental Take Permit. In addition to the permits discussed above, CDFW may also authorize the incidental take or possession of certain state-listed species in conjunction with otherwise lawful activities via Incidental Take Permits, Natural Community Conservation Plans or other mechanisms. Contact the Habitat Conservation Planning Branch at (916) 653-4875 or your CDFW Regional Office for additional information.

Information on scientific collection permits for non-plant species

For more information on any of the topics above, please contact nativeplants@wildlife.ca.gov.