The Alaska Department of Fish & Game acknowledges the generous funding support for the statewide Fish Passage Inventory Program primarily from the Alaska Division of the Federal Highway Administration through the Alaska Department of Transportation/Public Facilities, as well as the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

Alaska is endowed with incomparable fish habitat resources that support vast numbers of fish. The Division of Sport Fish is responsible for oversight and management of Alaska's sport and personal use fisheries that are worth more than 500 million dollars annually. Fish passage is a critical issue, especially important in maintaining the ecological and genetic integrity of anadromous and resident fishes statewide.

The precipitous decline of salmonid populations throughout many watersheds of the Pacific Northwest is primarily the result of the destruction and loss of freshwater habitat. While large quantities of habitat have been lost to industrialization and urbanization, in many instances, good quality upstream habitat for spawning and rearing still exists, but is unavailable to salmonids because of human-made barriers to migration that eliminate connectivity. The cumulative significant impact of thousands of dams, road culverts, and water diversions on salmonid populations has become increasingly apparent in the region, most notably over the past decade.

Growth throughout Alaska, especially in the Kenai Peninsula and Matanuska-Susitna boroughs has dramatically increased in the last decade. The expanding road network throughout interior and southcentral Alaska requires many fish stream crossings. ADF&G staff biologists work cooperatively with landowners, developers, and other agencies to limit impacts of road construction on fish habitat. If designed properly, bridges and culverts can have little or no adverse effects on fish passage. ADF&G biologists have inventoried and assessed hundreds of culverts to identify barriers to fish passage.