The department of agriculture shall implement this part by employing, subject to civil service rules, and equipping soil scientists, within appropriations for that purpose, to make soil surveys through cooperative arrangements with the United States department of agriculture soil conservation service and the Michigan agricultural experiment station. The soil survey shall be conducted under national standards and guidelines for naming, classifying, and interpreting soils and for publishing soil surveys in the United States department of agriculture series. The department of agriculture shall also, in conjunction with the department, design and implement standards and guidelines for use in primarily forested areas. The standards and guidelines may include the additional soil characteristics which must be measured to determine forest growth and continued protection, and the modification of soil body grouping methods to allow interpretation and inventory of soils for forest management purposes. Michigan technological university, Ford forestry center shall provide technical backup with respect to soil survey in forestry areas.