The Habitat Section is a unit of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Effective July 1, 2008, fish habitat permitting, Forest Resource and Practices Act review, and other project review functions were transferred from the Department of Natural Resources to the Department of Fish and Game
The Habitat Section's specific statutory responsibilities are:
1) protecting freshwater anadromous fish habitat under the Anadromous Fish Act (AS 16.05.871)
2) providing free passage of anadromous and resident fish in fresh water bodies (AS 16.05.841).
(These statutes were formerly known as Title 41.)
Alaska Statute AS 16.05.841 (Fishway Act) requires that an individual or governmental agency notify and obtain authorization from the ADF&G, Habitat Section for activities within or across a stream used by fish if the department determines that such uses or activities could represent an impediment to the efficient passage of fish. Culvert installation; stream realignment or diversions; dams; low-water crossings; and construction, placement, deposition, or removal of any material or structure below ordinary high water all require approval from the ADF&G.
Alaska Statute 16.05.871 (Anadromous Fish Act) requires that an individual or governmental agency provide prior notification and obtain approval from the ADF&G "to construct a hydraulic project or use, divert, obstruct, pollute, or change the natural flow or bed" of a specified anadromous waterbody or "to use wheeled, tracked, or excavating equipment or log-dragging equipment in the bed" of a specified anadromous waterbody. All activities within or across a specified anadromous waterbody and all instream activities affecting a specified anadromous waterbody require approval from the ADF&G, Habitat Section including construction; road crossings; gravel removal; placer mining; water withdrawals; the use of vehicles or equipment in the waterway; stream realignment or diversion; bank stabilization; blasting; and the placement, excavation, deposition, disposal, or removal of any material. Recreational boating and fishing activities generally do not require a permit.
The description and location of specified anadromous waterbodies is contained in the "Catalog of Waters Important for the Spawning, Rearing, or Migration of Anadromous Fishes." Copies of the catalog may be viewed at any office of the ADF&G, Division of Habitat.
The Division of Habitat also issues permits for recreational mining on the Kenai Peninsula.