Welcome

|PAGE UPDATED ON June 8th, 2010|

Announcements - In Reverse Chronological Order

Cool Climate Soil, Hydrology & Site Evaluator Soil Pit Classification Field Workshop at Saddleback Ski Resort in Rangeley, Maine is scheduled for WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1st, 2010.

Download the Workshop description and Workshop registration form.

Lodging information in the Rangeley area can be found here There will be an informal social gathering on Tuesday evening, August 31st in the Rangeley area. Details available in mid-summer. Download the "Who Should Attend" professionals' information sheet NH Certified Soil Scientists - 2.0 CEU's NH Certified Wetland Scientists - 2.0 CEU's Foresters - 6.5 Category 1 CFE's Maine CEO/LPI - 6.0 CEU's Maine Site Evaluators - 6.0 PDH's

The FULL MEMBER and ASSOCIATE MEMBER directories are now in HTML format. Please link to them using "Directory of Members" link at left. Please scroll to your individual data cells and note any changes / additions / corrections, and then e-mail them to Chris Dorion, Webmaster.

Publication of Field Indicators of Hydric Soils in the United States Version 7.0 is now available in electronic format. Download it here.

Fall 2010 Soil Courses at UMaine - Orono:

• PSE 442 - Pedology, the Science of Soil Morphology, Genesis and Classification (3 credit hours); this class will meet twice a week.
• PSE 444 - Field Soil Morphology and Classification (1 credit hour); this is an all-field course and will meet once a week for half a day. If anyone is interested but doesn't have the prerequisites, please contact Ken Stratton who can potentialy let them into the course by permission.
• EES397 - New Online Course Offering – Fall 2010 - Soils and Environmental Change - EES 397- Topics in Ecology and Environmental Sciences Conservation and Management

Winter 2010 edition of The Lay of the Land is posted. Use link at left "Archived Newsletters".

MAPSS Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, March 16th, at the Senator Inn in Augusta. Download the agenda. The New Hampshire Board of Natural Scientists has granted 1.0 CEU for NH Wetland Scientists and 1.0 CEU for NH Soil Scientists.

BAD E-MAIL ADDRESSES
Please contact: Gary Fullerton if your e-mail address changes and you wish to remain on the MAPSS bulk e-mail notification list. This is the primary means of communication now.

The 11th edition of Keys to Soil Taxonomy, as well as a summary of all changes for this new version of the Keys, are available at the NRCS website.

The 2009 MAPSS Guidelines are now uploaded. Use the link at left "Publications + MAPSS Guidelines" to download the PDF files.

The 2009 Executive Committee was elected at the Annual Meeting on March 10th. Use the link to the left for the new E.C. and Committee Chair list and e-mail contacts.

Why soil is important: that 10 inch thick Ap horizon is all that separates us from starvation. See the review of Dirt the Movie

Check out the Chesuncook soil monolith at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (scroll down to Image #11) in Washington, D.C. MAPSS raised over $10,000 for the monolith display.

Coarse fragment descriptions in the National Soil Survey Handbook have been updated.
Please check out this link to coarse fragment descriptions.

Maine Catena Key Update (spring, 2008)

• Boothbay is now limited to MWD
• Pushaw added as an aquept (SPD) to the Boothbay catena
• Ricker now limited to cryic areas
• Knob Lock replaces Ricker in frigid areas
• Moosabec replaces Waskish as sphagnofibrists in the Northeast
• Meadowsedge replaces Rifle as Euic Frigid Typic Haplohemists in the Northeast
• Do NOT use the Peru soil series in the Marlow catena; use Dixfield
• Do NOT use any mesic soil series in Maine
• In the old soil surveys, Buxton soils on a B-slope are now Lamoine soils

MOOSABEC soil series adopted in Maine

The MOOSABEC series has replaced the Waskish series. These are very poorly drained organic soils. For more information, visit the links in the left navigation column SOIL DATA and head to the OSD descriptions.

KNOB LOCK soil series adopted in Maine

"The Knob Lock series consists of very shallow and shallow, well drained to excessively drained organic soils on mountains and hills. They formed in thin organic deposits underlain in most places by a very thin mineral horizon over bedrock. TAXONOMIC CLASS: Dysic, frigid Lithic Udifolists" (Official Series Description)
Note that this soil series is in the frigid temperature regime. Ricker soils are now limited to the cryic temperature regime.
For more information, visit the links in the left navigation column SOIL DATA and head to the OSD descriptions.

MAPSS Display Board
MAPSS Secretary Dave Turcotte has overhauled the MAPSS display board. If you need it for a presentation, please contact Dave Turcotte.

Please use the link in the left navigation window "Past Events & Workshops - RESULTS (Write-ups, Comments, and Photos Albums are HERE)" to access MAPSS' archives of past workshops, meetings, and conferences.