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Preface <br />Soil surveys contain information that affects land use planning in survey areas. <br />They highlight soil limitations that affect various land uses and provide information <br />about the properties of the soils in the survey areas. Soil surveys are designed for <br />many different users, including farmers, ranchers, foresters, agronomists, urban <br />planners, community officials, engineers, developers, builders, and home buyers. <br />Also, conservationists, teachers, students, and specialists in recreation, waste <br />disposal, and pollution control can use the surveys to help them understand, <br />protect, or enhance the environment. <br />Various land use regulations of Federal, State, and local governments may impose <br />special restrictions on land use or land treatment. Soil surveys identify soil <br />properties that are used in making various land use or land treatment decisions. <br />The information is intended to help the land users identify and reduce the effects of <br />soil limitations on various land uses. The landowner or user is responsible for <br />identifying and complying with existing laws and regulations. <br />Although soil survey information can be used for general farm, local, and wider area <br />planning, onsite investigation is needed to supplement this information in some <br />cases. Examples include soil quality assessments (http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/ <br />portal/nrcs/main/soils/health/) and certain conservation and engineering <br />applications. For more detailed information, contact your local USDA Service Center <br />(https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?agency=nrcs) or your NRCS State Soil <br />Scientist (http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/contactus/? <br />cid=nrcs142p2_053951). <br />Great differences in soil properties can occur within short distances. Some soils are <br />seasonally wet or subject to flooding. Some are too unstable to be used as a <br />foundation for buildings or roads. Clayey or wet soils are poorly suited to use as <br />septic tank absorption fields. A high water table makes a soil poorly suited to <br />basements or underground installations. <br />The National Cooperative Soil Survey is a joint effort of the United States <br />Department of Agriculture and other Federal agencies, State agencies including the <br />Agricultural Experiment Stations, and local agencies. The Natural Resources <br />Conservation Service (NRCS) has leadership for the Federal part of the National <br />Cooperative Soil Survey. <br />Information about soils is updated periodically. Updated information is available <br />through the NRCS Web Soil Survey, the site for official soil survey information. <br />The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its <br />programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, <br />and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, <br />sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or a <br />part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not <br />all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require <br />2