WISCASSET NEWSPAPER • August 12, 2020
It may be hard to imagine that there are still a few parts of the world where the land has not experienced human impacts. One of the most important of these regions for Maine is the vast area to our north called the Boreal Forest biome. It has 1.5 billion acres, dotted with millions of lakes and ponds, the longest undammed rivers left in North America, the world’s second-largest peatland, and more surface freshwater and wetlands than just about anywhere else on earth. The biome is estimated to support at least 500 billion trees. An incredible place for all sorts of amazing wildlife, including 3-5 billion birds. More than 1.2 billion acres remain ecologically intact. It is one of the last opportunities to protect as much habitat as science tells us we need to protect in order to maintain the birds and other wildlife and plants, and the ability of the forest to clean the air and water. ~ Jeffrey V. Wells and Allison Childs Wells