Soil surveys note these susceptibilities and allow for mitigation and management of these hazards. Soil permeability, plasticity, liquid limits, composition and water table depth are all factors in determining the susceptibility of the soil to seismic damage. The study of mass movements are well suited to the digital soil survey. Some soils are suitable only to be left in a natural state. These areas do form an important use for people-recreation, while maintaining a place for wildlife.
Recreational activities are the basis of a large tourism industry in many states.
Identification of areas suitable as wildlife refuges and recreational activities is an important function that can mean dollars to a local economy. In the past the USDA-NRCS soil survey has been a useful tool in determining landuse and land management. Placing the soil survey into a digital format allows much easier access to the mountain of information contained within. Once completed, the digital soils database will be useful in many different disciplines. It will be up to persons in various fields to create new uses for these data sets.