A Maine forest offers decades of data on the ability of trees to remove carbon from the air

MAINE PUBLIC • July 22, 2022

For decades, scientists from around the world have been visiting a mature forest just off the interstate, about 30 miles north of Bangor. They've undertaken groundbreaking studies on acid rain, forest ecology and soil health. NASA used it for a remote sensing project. And at one point the 550-acre Howland Research Forest was the most photographed place on the planet — from space. On top of all that, Howland's best-kept secret is one of the longest, continuous records of atmospheric carbon and of the role forests play in the fight against climate change.