SoilsSoil serve as the foundation of most terrestrial ecosystems. Consequently, considering soilSoil information during planningPlanning efforts can improve the success of ecological restoration activities. Industrial loggingIndustrial logging operations and associated wildfires in the late 1800s and early 1900s resulted in a dramatic reduction in red spruce (Picea rubens)Red spruce () across the central and southern Appalachians. Current soilSoil properties can be used to determine if specific locations were historically dominated by red spruceRed spruce () and, therefore, how suitable those areas for red spruceRed spruce () restoration. In this chapter, we discuss the basic properties of soilsSoil and the ecosystem services they support, the notable characteristics of soilsSoil that underlie red spruceRed spruce () forests in the central and southern Appalachians, and the impacts of historical anthropogenic disturbancesDisturbance on red spruceRed spruce () soilsSoil. We also discuss the value of ecological sites and soilSoil maps for informing restoration planningPlanning. Historical red spruceRed spruce () forests left signatures in the soilSoil and these signatures can be used to guide selection of focal areas for red spruceRed spruce () restoration in the central and southern Appalachians.