Coordinated Common Standard Soil Surveys

Program or Category: Major Land Resource Area Office #13

Overview: The 2004 Board of Director’s meeting for Major Land Resource Areas (MLRA) Soil Survey Region 13 in June provided the setting for the final signature on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Soil Survey Operations in the Central Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic Coast Soil Survey Region (MO-13). NRCS implemented an MLRA approach to making and updating soil surveys in 1996 by creating 18 MLRA Regional Soil Survey Offices. The MO-13 Office is located in Morgantown, WV and provides quality assurance and technical support for soil survey updates in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, and southwest Virginia in 11 different MLRA areas.

Accomplishments: After many months of revising and circulating the document for signatures, Lillian V. Woods, State Conservationist in West Virginia certified the MOU for NRCS on June 24, 2004.

Program Benefits to Community: The MOU provides the guidance needed for MO-13 to conduct business such as the completion of an initial soil inventory and continued modernization efforts of all the soil surveys in the region. The true intent of the MOU is to ensure that the soil survey information is coordinated to a common standard and is scientifically sound. NRCS has the national leadership for soil surveys in the United States.

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West Virginia State Conservationist Lillian V. Woods (left) finalizes the MOU for Survey region 13 with her signature as Doug Zehner (Center - Acting State Conservationist - Ohio) and Steve Carpenter, (Right - MLRA Region 13 Staff Leader) look on.

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