Habitat Restoration Law and Legal Definition
Pursuant to 16 USCS § 3772 (5), [Title 16. Conservation; Chapter 57B. Partners for Fish and Wildlife]
“(A) In general. The term "habitat restoration" means the manipulation of the physical, chemical, or biological characteristics of a site with the goal of returning the majority of natural functions to the lost or degraded native habitat.
(B) Inclusions. The term "habitat restoration" includes--
(i) an activity conducted to return a project site, to the maximum extent practicable, to the ecological condition that existed prior to the loss or degradation, including--
(I) removing tile drains or plugging drainage ditches in former or degraded wetland;
(II) returning meanders and sustainable profiles to straightened streams;
(III) burning grass communities heavily invaded by exotic species to reestablish native grass and plant communities; and
(IV) planting plant communities that are native to the project site;
(ii) if restoration of a project site to its original ecological condition is not practicable, an activity that repairs 1 or more of the original habitat functions and that involve the use of native vegetation, including--
(I) the installation of a water control structure in a swale on land isolated from overbank flooding by a major levee to simulate natural hydrological processes; and
(II) the placement of streambank or instream habitat diversity structures in streams that cannot be restored to original conditions or profile; and
(iii) removal of a disturbing or degrading element to enable the native habitat to reestablish or become fully functional.”
Legal Definition list
Related Legal Terms
- Adverse Modification of Critical Habitat
- Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act
- Coastal Wetlands Restoration Project
- Cohabitation
- Cohabitation Agreement
- Conserved Habitat Areas [Wildlife Law]
- Critical Habitat
- Defense of Habitation
- Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984
- Environmental Restoration
