Use and Management of the Soils

This soil survey is an inventory and evaluation of the soils in the area. It can be used to adjust land uses to the limitations and potentials of natural resources and the environment. Also, it can help to prevent soil-related failures in land uses.

In preparing a soil survey, soil scientists, and others collect extensive field data about the nature and behavioral characteristics of the soils. They collect data on erosion, droughtiness, flooding, and other factors that affect various soil uses and management. Field experience and collected data on soil properties and performance are used as a basis in predicting soil behavior.

Information in this section can be used to plan the use and management of soils for crops and pasture; as rangeland; as sites for buildings, sanitary facilities, highways and other transportation systems, and parks and other recreational facilities. It can be used to identify the potentials and limitations of each soil for specific land uses and to help prevent construction failures caused by unfavorable soil properties.

Planners and others using soil survey information can evaluate the effect of specific land uses on productivity and on the environment in all or part of the area. The survey can help planners to maintain or create a land use pattern in harmony with the natural soil.

Contractors can use this survey to locate sources of sand and gravel, roadfill, and topsoil. They can use it to identify areas where bedrock, wetness, or very firm soil layers can cause difficulty in excavation.

Health officials, highway officials, engineers, and others may also find this survey useful. The survey can help them plan the safe disposal of wastes and locate sites for pavements, sidewalks, campgrounds, playgrounds, lawns, and trees and shrubs.

Interpretive Ratings

The interpretive tables in this survey rate the soils in the survey area for various uses. Many of the tables identify the limitations that affect specified uses and indicate the severity of those limitations. The ratings in these tables are both descriptive and numerical.