Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 131A, § 2 (2026)

Possession; alteration of habitat; exempt artifacts

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 2. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person may take, possess, transport, export, process, sell or offer for sale, buy or offer to buy, nor shall a common or contract carrier knowingly transport or receive for shipment, any plant or animal species listed as endangered, threatened or of special concern or listed under the Federal Endangered Species Act.

Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, no person may alter significant habitat.

Possession, transfer, sale or exchange of scrimshaw, curios, collectibles, antiques or artifacts of endangered species, mounted or unmounted, which items can be reasonably determined to pre-date January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-three, shall be exempt from the provisions of this chapter.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 5 cases, 1997–2014 · leading case: Pepin v. Div. of Fisheries & Wildlife, 467 Mass. 210 (Mass. 2014).

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Pepin v. Div. of Fisheries & Wildlife, 467 Mass. 210 (Mass. 2014). · cites it 2× “” G. L. c. 131A, § 2. Of these prohibited activities, only the term “take” is statutorily defined, and broadly so, to include both harming species themselves and disturbing their habitats.”

Douglas Env't Assocs., Inc. v. Dep't of Env't Prot., 429 Mass. 71 (Mass. 1999). “DEP concluded that the landfill as proposed would disturb the upland feeding and migratory habits of the marbled salamander and thus would constitute a “taking” of the salamanders in violation of MESA, G. L. c. 131A, § 2. DEP concluded further that at least a 640 foot buffer…”

Douglas Env't Assocs., Inc. v. Massachusetts Dep't of Env't Prot., 7 Mass. L. Rptr. 524 (Mass. Super. Ct. 1997). · cites it 2× “) The decision also determines that the permit must be denied because construction of the landfill as proposed would disturb the upland feeding and migratory habits of the marbled salamander which would constitute a prohibited “taking” of the salamander in violation of MESA,…”

WRT Mgmt. Corp. v. Commonwealth, Div. of Fisheries & Wildlife, 14 Mass. L. Rptr. 609 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2002). “131A, §4, and not *611 as a “taking" under G.L.c. 131A, §2. The distinction is important because designation as a significant habitat can only take place after the Division implements additional procedural protections not present here.”

Gilbert v. Conservation Comm'n, 18 Mass. L. Rptr. 481 (Mass. Super. Ct. 2004). “In the present action, Gilbert also seeks a declaratoiy judgment pursuant to G.L.c. 131A, §2. Gilbert has now moved for judgment in his favor on the pleadings, pursuant to Mass.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.