Initial soil survey efforts in the George Washington National Forest reveal woodland site quality of timber stands to be higher than expected for the soils traditionally mapped in the area. Assessment of soil temperature data indicates the mesic-frigid boundary occurs at approximately 1200 m. This boundary is not absolute, and allows for adjustments as appropriate.

Available climatic data shows precipitation generally increases with increased elevation. This coupled with lower mean monthly air temperatures and decreasing evapotranspiration allows for greater amounts of plant available moisture during the growing season at higher elevations. In some locations at lower elevations, there may be a potential for growth limiting conditions controlled by plant available moisture during the later part of the growing season.

Approximately one-third of the soils sampled are classified as Loamy-skeletal, siliceous, mesic Typic Dystrochrepts. This soil typifies the soils found on summit, shoulder, and side slope landscape positions. The highest elevations have Typic frigid Dystrochrepts representing the predominance of soils. Frigid soils have higher organic matter content, greater sand content, higher cation exchange properties, and less siliceous minerals in comparison to the mesic soils.

Comparison of the soils above to those occurring below selected elevations revealed an average 5 m greater site index for sites above 1100 m in comparison to all sites below. There are several soil properties that differ between these two groups of comparison. Total soil depth is greater and slope percent is less for soils above 1100 m. Soil organic matter and cation exchange capacity are higher on the sites with higher elevation, while base saturation and pH are lower.

From analysis conducted on the data, aspect may warrant separate map unit phases in mapping. Two properties between the east and west aspect are significantly different; organic matter and soil hydrogen are greater on the east aspect. Increased site index values of between 5 to 10 m on the east aspect, over the west aspect, are apparent for the high elevation sites.

Awareness of differences in productivity of this magnitude is important for management of the forest resource. A difference of 5 to 10 m in site index between two sites may have profound differences in the volume of timber, and, therefore, value of the site. The areas of best productivity need to be separated from those areas of normal productivity. In areas where the sites are accessible, and are under management for timber production, delineation of sites with high woodland site quality is essential since the primary land use is timber production.