• Fish Habitat Permit Information
• Fish Habitat Permit Application(PDF 56KB)
• Catalog of Waters Important for the Spawning, Rearing, or Migration on Anadromous Fishes (Fish Distribution Database)
• Streambank Revegetation and ProtectionRestoration - A Guide for Alaska (Rev. 2005)
• Salix Applied Earthcare
• International Erosion Control Association
• River Corridor and Wetlands Restoration
• River Management Society
• NOAA Habitat Restoration

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• U.S. Forest Service Land
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
• Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mining Land and Water
• Kenai Multi Agency Permitting

These Activities Require a Fish Habitat Permit

Your project may need to be reviewed and possibly a Fish Habitat Permit issued if your activities affect a streambed or streambank. There will be activities within a stream or river that do not fit other categories of the “Activities Requiring Permits”, but will lead to streambed or streambank disturbance. Check the complete list of activities on our homepage for categories that may be more appropriate or contact your local Habitat office for assistance in making that determination. Check here for a Fish Habitat Permit Application.

Some examples of activities affecting streambeds or streambanks may include but are not limited to the following. Please contact your regional office to determine if your project requires a permit.

• Boat launches
• Debris removal
• Construction of docks
• Geotechnical boring
• Beaver dam removal (with other than hand tools)
• Installation of utility lines across streams
• Installation of fish ladders or weirs

The following examples are standard stipulations that may be required for activities affecting streambeds or streambanks and could be included in a permit:

• Provide a durable and efficient fishway supplied with a quantity of water sufficient to pass fish and at a grade and velocity approximating that of the original stream to provide for both upstream and downstream travel of fish.
• No cross-channel structure shall be constructed in this waterbody.
• Stream banks shall not be mined or otherwise disturbed below the ordinary high water line (OHW). 
• No permanent dock anchoring devices shall be installed within the river below ordinary high water. During the open water season, temporary piles may be driven into the river bottom but shall be removed in their entirety each year prior to freeze-up. Permanent anchorage structures, if any, shall be installed in the river bank only above the OHW line.
• Except for the designated ingress and egress points, the streambanks shall not be altered or disturbed in any way. If stream banks are inadvertently disturbed, they shall be immediately stabilized to prevent erosion.
• “End-dumping” riprap along the streambank is prohibited. Riprap shall be strategically placed to prevent excess rock in the streambed.
• No fill material shall be placed in XX Creek.
• Upon completion of the XX, the excavated area shall be contoured and graded to slope towards the wetted portion of the river and to remove any depressions that may trap the fish after high-water levels recede.
• Winches shall not be used instream to move boulders, logs, and other natural obstructions which provide fish habitat and which are too large to move by hand.

If after reading this section, you are still in doubt whether your project activities will require project review, feel free to contact one of our staff in your area.