Traditionally what I have done for work was to pull up my desired State Park on the website, establish my AOI, and download the resulting shapefiles. I may then use it to suggest a better location for cabins or propose that cabins not be developed in the previously determined site. Until watching this video I was unaware that I could upload my ArcGIS files (ie park boundaries) into the Web Soil Survey website. I will continue to download the data for the areas surrounding the parks as well because I find it useful when looking at watersheds or how adjacent lands may impact parks with runoff, but it would be very nice to have the website determine the percentages for each soil type to then download in a Microsoft file. I do not have my park shapefiles on my personal computer so I was able to experiment with this during this assignment.
As I said previously I have only used this website on a very basic level and I never took much time to explore the array of tools available. Following along with the video and having guidance to help get started was very helpful. I then explored more of the tools that were not covered but I felt may be very useful in my work. The video seminar did an excellent job of explaining the capabilities of the website and I recommend anyone trying to understand the website watch and work along with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vszIhcghykk&feature=youtu.be&t=1m49s
One component of my job is trail design and construction. Some of the biggest hurdles with trails is designing a sustainable trail that will accommodate the number of users and not rut or channel water. If these goals can be met then the user will have a positive experience, it will require little maintenance, and have little impact on the environment (erosion, sediment loading, and the transportation of invasive species). Having the soil descriptions is great for this type of planning, but there is also a Paths and Trails tool available. When the tool is run it gives a rating fro each soil type in the AOI. Of course this is not only way to determine trail viability and exaggerating design features or constructing things such as raised areas can combat the effects of soil. It will prove very useful when being used as justification to not build a trail in an area desired by a park manager, the public, etc. due to the possible damage it could cause. The screen shot below is of a park where the public has requested equestrian trails and I have lobbied that we not build them due to the soil type and subsequent impact they would have. Each soil type in this park was rated as Somewhat Limited or Very Limited for trail development and thus provides me with the facts needed to discourage the development of these trails.
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