Completion of Statewide Digital Soil Survey

Project Details by Fiscal Year
2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$250,000
2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$250,000
Fund Source
Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund
Recipient
BWSR
Recipient Type
State Government
Status
Completed
Start Date
July 2011
End Date
June 2014
Activity Type
Inventory
Digitization/Online Information Access
Analysis/Interpretation
Mapping
Counties Affected
Statewide
Statewide
Project Overview

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Minnesota Soil Survey is an ongoing effort by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) that is systematically collecting and mapping data pertaining to soil types and other soil properties in each county of the state. To date, surveys for nearly all counties in the state have been completed. Soils data is used by governments, farmers, and other businesses for a number of purposes from protection and restoration of soil, water, wetlands, and habitats to agricultural productivity and soil management to building construction. This appropriation will complete the mapping and digitization of soil surveys for Crow Wing, Koochiching, Lake, Cook, and Saint Louis counties.

OVERALL PROJECT OUTCOME AND RESULTS
This project, Completion of Statewide Digital Soil Survey, is the last in a series of projects to map and digitize all Minnesota soils. The Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF) has supported the completion of a statewide soil survey since 1997. ENRTF's contribution of $3.5 million over 17 years leveraged $13.2 million from project partners including cooperating counties, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and the University of Minnesota.

Soil surveys contain information essential to the management of natural resources. Soil surveys provide a field-based scientific inventory of soil resources, including soil maps, data about the physical and chemical properties of soils, and information on the potentials and limitations of each soil. Farmers, landowners, builders, county assessors, and natural resource managers depend on soil survey information to conduct business and protect natural resources. This project extended soil maps and data to millions of acres previously lacking comprehensive soil surveys.

It is ideal to have 'seamless' soil data coverage regardless of land ownership (county, state, federal, or private). However, gaps exist in soil survey coverage due to these land ownership issues. This project focused on addressing portions of Minnesota with missing digital soils information; e.g., the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the Superior National Forest, and Crow Wing County. At the end of the final mapping phase (NRCS contributions extend to 2016) Pine County and the Grand Portage Reservation will be the only unmapped areas in Minnesota. NRCS intends to map Pine County in the future, funded entirely by the NRCS.

The mapping goal for the ENTRF funds was 400,000 acres. NRCS mapped over 2 million acres using ENTRF dollars and Federal funds. This included 207,546 acres in Crow Wing County; 470,000 in Lake and Cook Counties (outside Superior National Forest boundary); 793,725 acres in Lake, Cook, and St. Louis Counties (inside Superior National Forest boundary); and 600,000 in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

All the spatial and tabular data collected during this project will be available on Web Soil Survey: www.websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov.

PROJECT RESULTS USE AND DISSEMINATION
The data collected during the soil survey field investigations is available to the public via the Web Soil Survey website: www.websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov. The Web Soil Survey is the single authoritative source of up-to-date soils information for selecting sites for development, road building, pipeline corridors, and waste disposal; for pollution control; for minimizing risks to human life and property; and for wildlife management, wetlands identification, and soil or water conservation. The data collected during this project will be posted to Web Soil Survey in January 2015.

Project Details
Legal Citation / Subdivision
M.L. 2011, First Special Session, Chp. 2, Art.3, Sec. 2, Subd. 03c
Appropriation Language

$250,000 the first year and $250,000 the second year are from the trust fund to the Board of Water and Soil Resources to accelerate the completion of county soil survey mapping and Web-based data delivery. The soil surveys must be done on a cost-share basis with local and federal funds.

2012 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$250,000
Other Funds Leveraged
$2,875,000
Direct expenses
$250,000
Number of full time equivalents funded
3.21
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Click on "Final Report" under "Project Details".

Measurable Outcome(s)

Click on "Final Report" under "Project Details".

Legal Citation / Subdivision
M.L. 2011, First Special Session, Chp. 2, Art.3, Sec. 2, Subd. 03c
Appropriation Language

$250,000 the first year and $250,000 the second year are from the trust fund to the Board of Water and Soil Resources to accelerate the completion of county soil survey mapping and Web-based data delivery. The soil surveys must be done on a cost-share basis with local and federal funds.

2013 Fiscal Year Funding Amount
$250,000
Direct expenses
$250,000
Number of full time equivalents funded
3.2
Proposed Measurable Outcome(s)

Click on "Final Report" under "Project Details".

Measurable Outcome(s)

Click on "Final Report" under "Project Details".

Project Manager
First Name
Greg
Last Name
Larson
Organization Name
Board of Water and Soil Resources
Street Address
520 Lafayette Rd N
City
St. Paul
State
MN
Zip Code
55155
Phone
(651) 297-7029
Email
greg.a.larson@state.mn.us
Administered By
Administered by
Location

520 Lafayette Road North
St. Paul, MN 55155

Phone
651- 296-3767