The Web Soil Survey – Now for a New Generation

Remarks by Bruce I. Knight, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, at the National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference

Corpus Christi, Texas
May 24, 2005


Good morning, and thank you, Tom [Hallmark]. Thank you for having me.

I want to talk with you this morning about the future for soil surveys and soil scientists, and what we’re doing to get all the information you’ve been collecting onto the Web.

First, I want you to know how pleased I am with the leadership that Bill Puckett is providing to NRCS and to the National Cooperative Soil Survey as Deputy Chief for Soil Survey and Resource Assessment. I know completing the first generation soil survey is a challenge, and I’m confident that we have the right person in charge to lead us in meeting that challenge.

We’ve made tremendous strides during the past century, and I’m sure Charles Kellogg would be proud—and amazed! But we all know we need to finish what others have begun, and the foundation we are building on.

We now have first generation soil surveys covering more than 98 percent of the private lands in the U.S. We owe it to our customers to complete the job. They need our work—and they need it now.

Equally critical is getting our soil surveys digitized. This is essential as we move forward in implementing the Conservation Security Program as well as all of our programs.

As you know, one of the criteria for States in selecting watersheds for CSP is having a completed digitized soil survey for all counties in the watershed. By all accounts, that linkage is causing a resurgence of focus on soil services. Initial nominations from States for the Fiscal Year 2006 program are due to us in three weeks.

Importance of Soil Surveys

Soils work, and the soil science discipline, is foundational to almost all of our conservation and environmental work. Like the soil itself, this work is often taken for granted and unappreciated.
The work that you do enables our customers to make good decisions. We all need to work together to complete the work we’ve begun.

You should see my copy of the soil survey for Buffalo County, South Dakota. It’s well used.
That’s because I would never make a decision on buying or renting land without consulting the soil maps to determine what I can afford to pay.

I need to know what the soil will do for me—or won’t do. The soil maps provide the basis for my planting and grazing plans as well. Soil surveys are the enabling platform to plan and manage conservation needs.

Farmers and ranchers need them. So do developers and community planners. So does the manager at a major wildlife organization thinking about acquiring a piece of property. And so do conservationists concerned about pollution in the Chesapeake Bay or the Great Lakes.

More people ought to be considering soil data when they make decisions. That means we need to make soil data more easily accessible and understandable. We have to break out of technical terminology and fancy computer programs whenever we can, so the average person can use the soil survey information.

Web Soil Survey

That’s the goal of the Web Soil Survey.

We already have tabular data through the Soils Data Mart. But we really need the maps as well.
We want to put every soil map in our inventory on the worldwide web in a form that’s downloadable and available 24/7 and 365 days a year from any personal computer. You won’t need ArcView to get it, to understand it, or to manipulate it.

One of President Bush’s management initiatives is e-Government—making government services and information available on-line. The Web Soil Survey fulfills the promise of accessibility for our citizens to the information their tax dollars paid for.

We’re close to realizing the first phase of this project. By the end of the summer, NRCS plans to release the Web Soil Survey to the public. We’ll have soil surveys for more than 2,200 counties on the Internet to start.

Web Soil Survey offers immediate access and will permit our customers to get just the data they want. It will cut publication costs and provide information more quickly after the fieldwork is completed.

Customer-Friendly Access

Customers will automatically receive the most up-to-date information. They’ll pinpoint their area of interest on the map displayed on their computer screen. Then Web Soil Survey will present a catalog of soil information, such as

• Survey Reports (text, tables, maps) in pdf format
• Official soil information from the Soil Data mart or
• Digital geographic data for use in a GIS

Customers can view a display of soil maps and interpretive thematic maps. With this information, our customers can build a report or data file customized to fit their individual needs.

Another option will enable customers to specify the land use or uses that interest them. Web Soil Survey would then automatically include only information applicable to those uses.

We’ll also have links between the soil survey data and other relevant natural resources information, such as

• NRCS Field Office Technical Guides,
• the Ecological Site Information System,
• the Climate Information System, and
• the PLANTS Data Mart.

It will also be possible to link to stored documents such as national handbooks and manuals. Our customers will have the option to:

• view information on their computer screen,
• print the information,
• send it to a third party for printing,
• download it or
• obtain it on CD or DVD using the Geospatial Data Gateway facilities.

The reality is exciting—but the future possibilities are even more exciting. I envision our customers using this data in ways we can’t even imagine today—integrating it into other applications and manipulating it to suit their needs.

Launching this system is a milestone for NRCS, the National Cooperative Soil Survey, and indeed, the Nation. And I want to thank each of you, whether you’re an NRCS staff member or one of our partners, for making this dream of accessibility a reality. While you’re here, you’ll have the opportunity to view a demo, so you can see exactly what our customers will see when they access the system.

I mentioned that we’re going to launch the Web Soil Survey this summer. You can get a sneak preview earlier, but initially only 50 users will be able to access the system at any one time. So we’ll save the launch for August when we move to the ESRI hosting facilities, and everyone can see this wonderful new tool of soil science.

Closing the Gap

I am really pleased at the progress we’ve made, but I won’t be fully satisfied until we complete the first generation soil survey, get every map digitized and have all of our information on the web. Our ultimate goal is a nationwide seamless digital survey of soils.

So, how do we close the gap?

There’s only one way—and that’s through partnership. That may take many different forms.
And different states and areas of the country have partnered with us in different ways.
That will continue, but it must also increase.

We’re going to need lots of help to complete this work. We need all of our partners—

• The U.S. Forest Service,
• Bureau of Land Management,
• National Park Service,
• Bureau of Indian Affairs,
• Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service,
• U.S. Geological Survey,
• Other federal agencies,
• Agricultural Experiment Stations,
• State and local governments,
• Tribes
• National Association of State Conservation Agencies, and
• National Society of Consulting Soil Scientists

To support us in completing this first generation.

Part of that will include working with us to implement the “New Soil Survey” by:

• Putting the soil surveys on the web
• Using the new GIS mapping technologies and
• Establishing our MLRA Soil Survey offices across the nation.

I want to challenge you, as I have challenged the NRCS Soils Division in Washington, to find a better way to do soil survey—to aggressively identify and adopt the best technologies to accelerate mapping and at the same time improve the quality of our information.

We need you to carry the message to agencies and organizations in your State about the importance of soil surveys. We need to share it with our federal partners in Washington.

Without increased cooperation—and probably some additional financial assistance—we won’t get there.

Cooperative Conservation

Speaking of cooperation, another issue I wanted to highlight for you is cooperative conservation.

This year NRCS is celebrating its 70th anniversary. We’ve been “A partner in conservation since 1935.” That’s seven decades of helping people help the land.

Our partnership extends beyond individual landowners to state and local governments as well as private organizations. In line with President Bush’s Cooperative Conservation Initiative, we look for opportunities to work with others

• to avoid duplication,
• leverage resources
• and accomplish mutual environmental goals.

Last month, the White House announced that it will host a Cooperative Conservation Conference, August 29-31 in St. Louis. The goal is to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas on ways we can work together—at all levels of government—in concert with communities and landowners to enhance and protect the environment.

NRCS will be part of that conference—as will other USDA agencies—and other departments including Interior, Defense, Commerce and EPA. Most importantly, our customers will be part of this conference—the first national conference held in about 40 years.

We are looking forward to this conference as a special opportunity to foster relationships and forge alliances that will enable us to move forward in voluntary conservation activities. Many of you here today represent organizations that will take part in this conference. Make sure that your representatives know the importance of soils and the needs of public and private landowners.

Soil Scientists

Those of us who work with soils have a long and proud history. I think we also have an exciting and challenging future.

Part of that challenge is ensuring a steady supply of soil scientists. As you know in government, one of our management challenges is addressing “the retirement bulge”—the fact that about 50 percent of NRCS staff will be eligible to retire over the next 10 years. So our need for soil scientists will definitely increase.

We need to work closely with our university cooperators to ensure a steady supply of soil scientists—for NRCS and other organizations. NRCS needs soil scientists not just for the soil survey program but for other areas in the agency as well. Some of our best conservation leaders have a background in soils.

Conclusion

NRCS was born during the Dust Bowl days when Congress was visibly persuaded of the need to reduce soil erosion. But even before that, our country recognized the value of understanding the nature of soil, beginning to study and map it in the late 1800’s.

Our job in the early 21st Century is to complete the work others have begun. We must expand and extend our partnerships. We must employ the latest technology both in completing our surveys and making our analyses widely available to our customers. And we must encourage others to follow in our footsteps to keep our surveys up to date.

At the beginning of the 20th Century, our trailblazer in conservation, President Teddy Roosevelt said, “Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

As soil scientists, I’m sure you understand the truth of those words. I know you’ve worked hard—and will continue to do so—to support all those who depend on the soil for their livelihoods.

Thank you.