Agriculture Capability Mapping Legacy Data

The Ag_Capability_gdb (zipped file) and the Ag Capability_Shape (zipped file) contain a compilation of 1:20,000, 1:50,000, 1:100,000 and 1:250,000 Agriculture Capability mapping GIS data (including projects digitized from hardcopy maps.)  This is a work in progress (as resources permit), known to contain label parsing errors (as the original map label data had not been captured in a consistent format).   

Use caution as spatial accuracy is dependent on the original scale of the soil and/or agricultural capability mapping and digitization techniques.  Note that the source maps for this dataset were created in the 1960s thru early 1990s, and land management practices may have altered the agricultural capability of the soils. Field investigation by a qualified professional to confirm soil characteristics is strongly advised before using this mapping for any decision making.   

KMZ verions of the Ag Capability Map by mapsheet (for use with Google Earth) are available at:  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/distdata/ecosystems/Soil_Data/SIFT/Soil__AgCap_KML_Files/ 

Please check back periodically for updated versions of this dataset. If any label parsing corrections are made by the user, please submit the improved data to the Ministry of Environment at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/tei/Data_Submission.shtml with a notification to TEI_Mail@gov.bc.ca, explaining what corrections were made and methodology and QA used. Thanks! 

Use the data at your own risk. 

Scanned Agriculture Capability maps are available for self-serv download. See the instructions for finding Scanned Maps at:  Find Scanned Soil and Agricultural Capability Maps
Information on the Agriculture Capability Classes (classes are standard across maps) is available at: 
•	A Data Dictionary is available in .csv format from: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/distdata/ecosystems/Soil_Data/AgricultureCapability/ 
•	http://sis.agr.gc.ca/cansis/nsdb/cli/classdesc.html (click on each class or subclass for more detailed descriptions)  
•	http://www.alc.gov.bc.ca/alc/content.page?id=C553220B18A34F46B9CBBCD53E629DC4#  (and tabs for class and subclass)
•	Example Agriculture Capability Legends (from scanned maps): http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/distdata/ecosystems/Soil_Data/AgricultureCapabilityLegend/  

More detailed Information regarding Agriculture Capability Classification standards and methodology is available at: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/documents/techpub/moe1/moem1.pdf 

See also: 
Agriculture Capability Mapping (CLI) (1:250,000 scale GIS data)
City Agriculture Capability

Soil mapping in geodatabase and shape file formats is available from:  http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/distdata/ecosystems/Soil_Data/Soil_Data_Pkgs/ 

Maija Finvers
TEI_Mail@gov.bc.ca
June 2016