The Howland Research Forest is a 555-acre (2.25 km²) tract of mature evergreen forest in central Maine, USA, west of the town of Howland. The Howland study site is located in a boreal transitional forest. The forest is dominated by mixed spruce, hemlock, aspen and birch stands ranging in age from 45 to 130 years. The soils are formed on coarse-loamy granitic basal till. The tract is part of the 1.1 million acres (4,500 km²) of Maine forest sold in 2005 by International Paper (IP) to a private forest investment management company.