The Ashland County Soil Survey that was published in 1980 in paperback form now has been digitized and available on CD and the World Wide Web. This survey is a result of years of mapping in the 1970s by soil scientists with what then was called the Soil Conservation Service. Some older farmers may remember when these individuals would walk farm after farm with a soil probe and take samples on every acre to map its properties. This was done to put a soils map together along with descriptions, classifications, properties and information tables. It was a great accomplishment when the final product was published and presented to the county commissioners who partnered with the cost along with the Ashland Soil and Water Conservation District and SCS.This product has been used extensively over the years and has more than paid for itself in its wealth of information. Landowners can look at their property and see if the soils are conducive to farm ponds, septic leach fields, flooding, crop production and many other land uses. It has helped in many landowner decisions when planning for future development.Today we still have free "hard" copies of the soil survey manual available to the general public. However, technology has made it readily accessible and available on your home computer. With the GIS capabilities we have today, you can print out a map of your property with a soils layer and all the information associated with each soil without the high tech GIS software out there on the market.The Web Soil Survey available at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ allows one access to soils information all over the United States and is a tremendous tool. It has a help menu and information on how to navigate and print data. (With this tool there should be no excuse for someone selling you swampland in Florida.)Ashland SWCD also has the certified Ashland County soil survey data on CD as a result of a cooperative effort with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and ODNR. This has spatial and tabular soil data, digital aerial photography and ArcView-derived, user friendly GIS software. It also contains a text version of the survey and its tables. In summary, the soils information has not changed. It is just in another format.The soils in Ashland County and their characteristics still are the same as they were 25 years ago and still pertinent to help in land use decisions.n Wendell Swartzentruber is local district conservationist for USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.