SEATTLE, Wash. - They not only look good and smell nice, but a new study reports the national forests of Washington and Oregon are some of the hardest-working in the United States, when it comes to keeping global warming pollution out of the atmosphere. Of the top ten forests in the nation for storing the most carbon dioxide per acre, three are in Washington, one in Alaska, and the other six in Oregon.

The study of U.S. Forest Service data indicates the dense Northwest forests are real powerhouses in using and storing CO2 compared to other parts of the country. Study author Mike Anderson, a senior resource analyst with The Wilderness Society, says the reason is that the forests here are bigger and the trees are older.

"Looking across the whole country, these Pacific Northwest forests are storing about twice as much as your average acre of forest land across the United States."

Taken together, these ten forests store almost 10 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide, which Anderson says is more than the emissions from one year's use of fossil fuel in the United States. Washington trees are doing their part, he adds.

"The Olympic National Forest was number two, the Gifford Pinchot in Southwest Washington was number four; and the Mount Baker-Snowqualmie in Northwest Washington was number seven out of the top ten."

The study will be shared with federal forest managers to underscore the importance of keeping the Northwest forest ecosystem healthy and intact, says Anderson.

The analysis, Top Ten Carbon Storing National Forests in America, is online at www.wilderness.org.