Soil is a vital component of healthy landscape while also acting as an important tool in climate solutions. Beyond supporting plant growth for landscape and agricultural products and providing a home for animals and insects, soils aid in protecting key biodiversity, sequestering carbon, and improving resilience from drought and floods.  A key starting point is understanding site soils, available via several resources like Oregon Soil Survey and online web tools like the USDA Web Soil Survey and incorporating on-site field study.   

The combination of protecting soils and enhancing soil health is key. Protection is being integrated into policy through development of carbon banks using farm and ranch land, along with other conservation areas which could inform landscape management strategies or be implemented in urban areas. Enhancing soil health can happen through site-based landscape interventions, protecting soils with erosion protection and less site grading and tillage, improving soil health by reducing chemical inputs that destroy soil biota, and amending using organic inputs