NELSONVILLE – The Wayne National Forest and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil and Water Conservation recently signed an agreement to create digital soil maps for seven counties within the Wayne National Forest.

Sunday, September 02, 2001

NELSONVILLE – The Wayne National Forest and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil and Water Conservation recently signed an agreement to create digital soil maps for seven counties within the Wayne National Forest.

The Forest Service is contributing a total of $119,000 to the project. Watersheds related to Wayne National Forest in Lawrence, Monroe, Scioto, Jackson, Noble, Gallia and Vinton counties will be digitized by December 2002.

"Digital soil maps will allow for the integration of soil information with several other features (i.e. vegetation, elevation, wildlife) to determine ecological relationships," Wayne National Forest Geographic Information System coordinator Aaron Burk said.

This is a part of a statewide initiative for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Soil and Water Conservation to provide digital soil maps for the entire state of Ohio. The estimated cost of the program is $4.3 million and should be completed by 2006.