Soil Survey and Its Use in Alaska

Abstract

Soils have been surveyed in various parts of Alaska to meet resource -development needs since territorial days. These surveys have been conducted and published by the National Cooperative Soil Survey since 1952 and are a joint effort of the United States Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service and the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station. Initially, government agencies were the major users of such soil surveys because land ownership was controlled almost entirely by government agencies. However, the demand for soils and geographic information increased substantially as population increased and urban areas grew following the discovery of oil on the Kenai Peninsula during the 1950s and on the North Slope in the late 1960s. Interest also heightened when the state gained titles to a large portion of land following statehood in 1959. The National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) published many soil surveys for areas of intensive land use or potential land development. These soil surveys often are underutilized or misused. This publication, "Soil Survey and Its Use in Alaska," was developed over three years based on my field reviews of NCSS activities in Alaska as well as on my discussions with users of soil surveys regarding questions and problems arising from using the reports. In this publication, soil surveys and their use in Alaska are reviewed and discussed.