Fort Greely Soil Survey Update

July, 2003-The Fort Greely Soil Survey is underway and so far running smoothly.  We are attempting to complete the field work for western Ft. Greely.   The weather has cooperated for the most part except for a few days of low cloud ceilings, flooding, and even snow!! We are working in the southern half of Fort Greely, in the foothills of the Alaska Range.

The crew consists of Ryan Dermody, a soil scientist from Iowa on detail; George Hitz, biotech, from Oregon. George worked on the Greely Soil Survey last year—apparently he didn’t learn his lesson and is back for more punishment this summer.  The final member of my crew is Michelle McGee, biotech. Michelle is working on her PhD in geology at UAF. 

The first two weeks of the field season were spent training the crew in helicopter, bear, and shotgun safety. I also introduced the crew to soils they might encounter in the field. These included Entisols, Inceptisols, and everyones favorite Gelisols. We also spent some time learning the local vegetation. Other training included tussock walking, how to exit a helicopter gracefully in knee high tussocks, and permafrost chopping.

We officially started our field season on June 18 and have successfully completed 30 sites out of 66. We also have a few days scheduled for lab sampling and plan to use the permafrost auger to give us a better understanding of the soils in the areas where the permafrost has beaten our conventional methods of digging.

Amidst all this training and field work, I have provided Jeff Durham, of the Delta Soil and Water Conservation District, technical soils assistance on several projects he has on Ft. Greely. Jeff uses our soils information to locate gravel sources and place roads and structures. The permafrost has proved to be a formidable opponent in the development of Ft. Greely. I have also provided Phil Naegele, District Conservationist in Delta, with soils information.

Dan Rees, Forester for the U.S. Army, spent a day in the field with us to see what we actually do. Dan correlates the forest productivity data he collects with our soils information. Cassiddee Hall, student intern with the Fairbanks Soil and Water Conservation District, will be spending a few days with us to get some soils training and background.

Your contact is Trudy Pink, soil survey project leader, at 907-479-3159 ext. 108, or trudy.pink@ak.usda.gov   

< Back to News Archives