(Click On Photos To Enlarge)
Most of the United States is covered by the Public Land Survey System, a grid system that is easy to navigate if you have a plat book for the county you are in. This system is based on Principal Meridians and Base Lines, and you must know your Meridian number from this map to navigate the PLSS on the soil survey site.
Google Earth can be used to locate a site quickly, which will give you the latitude and longitude at the bottom of the screen. When you know how to navigate to your site, go to the Web Soil Survey site and begin.
Click on the green Start button.
The navigation page comes up in a new window. The navigation choices are on the left side of the page.
Plug in the information, and click the View button.
The section you selected will come up on the right side of the screen.
Go to the menu bar above the photo, and click on the Area Of Interest (AOI) polygon icon.
Click your way around the acreage, double clicking on the final corner.
Cross-hatching will appear over the AOI.
Go back to the top, and click on the Soil Map tab.
Soil information will be displayed on the left side of the screen...
...and your soil map will be on the right. Once you become familiar with the soil types in your area, maps like this one translate into a relief map in your mind, and tell you what types of trees are probably growing there.
Right click on the map, and save it to a folder so you can refer to it later, and print it out for field use.
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