This manual is organized into seven primary sections: 1. Introduction - describes some fundamental principles for planning stream surveys and iincludes a Quick Reference Guide and a sample timeline. 2. Initial Survey - includes a phased approach to completing an initial survey, along with checklists for each of the methods, examples of maps, and completed field forms. 3. Full Survey - describes the methods required for a full survey, and includes checklists for each of the methods, examples of maps, and completed field forms. 4. Supplemental Surveys - describes how individual survey components may be used to supplement existing survey data. 5. Literature Cited 6. Appendices - contains blank field forms for all of the procedures described in the manual; USGS Hydrologic Unit Code / MDNR Major Watershed conversion table; Minnesota Stream Identification System (Kittle Number); and Guidelines for the Selection and Safe Use of Electrofishing Gear. 7. Electronic Appendices -may be available from this and other DNR sources.

Abstract: Habitat is now the basis of most impact assessments and resource inventories, and it is the basis of many species management plans, mitigation planning, and environmental regulation. Habitats are relatively stable through time, easily defined in intuitive physical terms, and provide a tangible resource for negotiations and decision making. Numerous and varied methods of analyzing and reporting habitat conditions have been developed by federal, state, provincial, and private agencies. Habitat assessment approaches vary greatly among regions of the continent. The great variability in methods and an unusually wide range of practices have impeded the ability of agencies to share and synthesize information. A diversity of methods is desirable in the initial stages of a rapidly developing field, but enough time has passed to assess the state-of-knowledge and identify the best of the currently used methods and techniques. This manual is intended to provide fisheries biologists with a limited set of techniques for obtaining aquatic habitat data. The manual also describes the range of information collected and used in agency habitat analyses. Agencies planning habitat programs should review the synthesis of established and documented methods being used in North America (Appendix 1) and the planning recommendations in Chapter 2. Then, the remaining chapters should be reviewed to determine what types of habitat data should be included in the agency's program.