Description: The Alaska State Legislature has protected portions of Alaska's outstanding natural habitat and associated fish and wildlife resources by establishing State Refuges, State Sanctuaries, and State Critical Habitat Areas. The statutes which authorize these special areas give the Alaska Department of Fish and Game authority to preserve and protect the unique aspects for which they were established. The SALDAs_08 dataset depicts the boundaries of these areas. Legislation pertaining to these lands may be found in Alaska Statutes Title 16, Chapter 20. State Refuges are established to make sure wildlife continue to populate specific areas and to insure the public continues to have use of these wildlife resources. These areas have fairly sizeable concentrations, or many different types, of waterfowl, big game, shorebirds, or other species. One or more elements of habitat - such as food, vegetation, water - needed by this wildlife are present. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game manages state refuges by focusing on a featured wildlife species or group of species. This may mean rehabilitating or improving the habitat on which the wildlife depends. Uses of refuge lands are controlled to prevent habitat changes which would be harmful to the wildlife populations. Activities are also controlled to prevent displacement of animals from their natural habitat and interruption of seasonal activities (e.g. nesting). Human uses - including recreational pursuits and harvest of wildlife resources - are permitted so long as they are in keeping with the primary reason for establishing the refuge. State Critical Habitat Areas are places where protective emphasis is on the environment in which wildlife occurs. State critical habitat areas are set aside to protect the land and resources necessary to support essential life functions or large concentrations of one or more fish and wildlife populations. Critical habitat areas may be complete biotic systems - identifiable environmental units that operate as self-sustaining systems - or well-defined areas specifically needed by fish or wildlife for certain functions such as nesting, spawning or over-wintering. Management by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game of critical habitat areas is aimed primarily at providing protection for the habitat. All uses of the land which are not compatible with that aim are restricted. In most instances, harvest of fish and wildlife is not precluded in a critical habitat area. State Game Sanctuaries are areas set aside to provide permanent protection for wildlife populations and their habitats, so that these resources may be preserved for scientific, aesthetic, and educational purposes, to manage human use and activities in a way that is compatible with the area, and to provide opportunities that are compatible for wildlife viewing, fisheries enhancements, and fishing, for temporary safe anchorage, and other activities. The wildlife in these cases normally uses the land in somewhat exclusive ways. A sanctuary may provide the only place where a certain population carries out some part of its annual life cycle such as feeding, nesting, hauling out, or migration. In managing sanctuaries, other uses of the land are closely controlled, or are prohibited, in order to prevent changes in the habitat or disturbance of the protected species. Recreational access to state sanctuaries is controlled by permits issued by Division of Wildlife Conservation. Use of the wildlife itself is also closely controlled.