A Kenai Refuge culvert before replacement was a barrier to migrating salmon.

A new Kenai Refuge culvert will pass juvenile and adult migrating salmon.

A partnership between the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Kenai Watershed Forum, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Kenai Fish and Wildlife Field Office, and Union Oil company of California has resulted in 4 culverts being replaced within the Swanson River Oil Field or along Swan Lake Road.  The culverts drain Mink, Breeze, Doghouse, or Merganser/Swan Lake and all have historic use of migrating adult and juvenile salmon but have become degraded with time to where fish could not easily pass through them  during much of the year.  The replacement of these culverts allow for large amounts of spawning and rearing habitat for salmon to be reclaimed.  The new culverts are larger, are engineered to sustain icing and high seasonal flows, and have designs that simulate fish swimming through a natural stream.