Both the Soil and Ag Capability datasets are a work in progress.  Additional attributes for Soils are captured and both datasets are improved as resources permit.

The Soil KMZ's are current to March 2016 and match the data available via the Soil Information Finder Tool.

Note that soil surveys were completed prior to the late 1980's and therefore land management practices may have altered the landscape and soil attributes.  If soil information is critical for your application then a field survey by a qualified professional is strongly recommended.   

The Ag Capability KMZs are dated March 2015, same as the dataset in the Soil Information Finder Tool.  

Note that the current version of the Ag Capability dataset is based on digitized scanned maps dated from the 1960s-1980s. This data contains known label parsing errors and is based on climate interpretations that are now out of date.  Users may prefer to use the soil attributes, slope, elevation and climate data (Frost Free Period and Growing Degree days above 5C)available in the soil dataset.      

The Soil Information Finder Tool (SIFT) (interactive mapping application) is available at:  http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/air-land-water/land/soil-information-finder 

The Soil data can be downloaded om in file geodatabase format from: http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/esd/distdata/ecosystems/Soil_Data/SOIL_DATA_FGDB/  


Maija Finvers
2016-06-21