With over 450 soils to choose from in Michigan, one has to wonder how it is that Kalkaska sand came to represent them all.  To begin with, the people who decided we needed a state soil agreed upon a set of rules to help them in the selection process.  The first of these rules-the state soil must occur in both the upper and lower peninsulas-narrowed the category quite a bit, and the rest helped make Kalkaska sand an easy choice.

1. Kalkaska sand occurs in both of Michigan's peninsulas.  It is in 29 of the state's 83 counties.
2. Kalkaska sand has layers of very distinct colors, making it easily distinguished from other soils.
3. Kalkaska sand is unique to Michigan.  To date, over 750,000 acres have been recorded.  This figure is projected to exceed one million acres upon completion of Michigan's Soil Survey Project.
4. Kalkaska sand has a wide variety of uses.  It is used primarily for hardwood timber production, namely Sugar Maple and Yellow Birch.  It is important for producing Christmas trees and specialty crops, such as potatoes and strawberries.  Kalkaska sand is used as wildlife habitat areas, building sites, and recreation areas.
5. Kalkaska is one of the earliest soils recognized in Michigan.  It was first described in 1927 in Kalkaska County, which is the source of soil's name.

The next question that comes to mind is, why have a state soil at all? Well, Public Act 302, the State Soil Bill, was enacted December 14, 1990, in order for Michigan to have one symbol to represent the over 450 different soils in our state. The state soil, Kalkaska sand, was chosen to help inform the public about the importance of Michigan's soil resources in general.