The WRCCRF
The WRCCRF was established in 1994 and erected in 1995 as a cooperative scientific and educational venture among the University of Washington (UW) College of Forest Resources, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Pacific Northwest Research Station, and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. The crane is a Liebherr 550 HC freestanding tower crane with a load jib extension purchased from Morrow Crane Company, Inc., of Salem, Oregon.
According to an article by Sandra Hines, "While scientists have studied the tropical rain forest canopy for years with cranes, this is the first extensive study of the temperate forest canopy." UW professor Jerry Franklin (who Hines describes as "the guiding force behind the crane") says that the study demonstrates that temperate conifer forests are better at banking carbon than any other ecosystem in the world, certainly more than tropical forests on a per unit area basis, at least 178 tons per acre (40 kg/m².) This finding could have significant impact on strategies to fight global warming.
Read more about this topic: Wind River Experimental Forest