Cooperative Forestry Research Unit

Cooperative Forestry Research Unit logoThe CFRU serves the large, commercial forest landowners of Maine and has more than 30 members representing over 8 million acres of forestland.CFRU scientists conduct applied research that provides Maine’s forest landowners, forestry community, and policymakers with the information needed to ensure both sustainable forestry practices and science-based forest policy.

Intelligent GeoSolutions

Intelligent GeoSolutions logoThe Intelligent GeoSolutions team offers highly accurate geospatial information about forest attributes relevant to forest management, scalable to large areas using satellite imagery and USFS FIA data.

Center for Advanced Forestry Systems

CAFS logoAs participants in the Center for Advanced Forestry Systems (CAFS), an NSF industry-university cooperative, CRSF helps facilitate the connections between forestry research programs and industry members to solve complex, industry-wide problems. The CRSF took over as the lead program site in 2018.

Northeastern States Research Cooperative

Northeastern States Research Cooperative logoThe NSRC is a competitive grant program that was funded by the USDA Forest Service through 2016 to support cross-disciplinary, collaborative research in the Northern Forest; the CRSF oversees Theme 3, encompassing research that will quantify, improve, and sustain productivity of the Northern Forest as a working forest landscape.


Research Forests

Howland Research Forest

Howland Reseach LogoThe Howland Research Forest attracts local, national, and international scientists interested in studying nutrient cycling, forest ecology, climate change, and carbon sequestration.

Penobscot Experimental Forest

Photo of PEF signThe Penobscot Experimental Forest, located in Bradley, is home to university and USFS researchers and nature trails open to the public.

Bear Brook Watershed

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) research program is centered on two small first-order adjacent forested stream watersheds in eastern Maine. BBWM has served an array of scientific objectives that include acid deposition, climate change and carbon sequestration, nitrogen saturation, base cation depletion, and studies of the evolution of watershed biogeochemistry under prolonged experimental acidification since the 1980s. 

Photo of Schoodic Peninsula, Maine.