The coastlines of Oregon and Washington take many different forms: sandy beaches, rocky headlands, marshy flats, and swampy tidal forests of salt-tolerant Sitka spruce. These tidal swamps were once the primary type of coastal wetland in Oregon, but development since European settlement has destroyed more than 90% of that original habitat. …New research from the Pacific Northwest Blue Carbon Working Group shows that forested tidal swamps store more carbon than any other coastal ecosystem on the West Coast of the United States and Canada. …They found that in the top meter of soil alone, coastal swamps store about 145 metric tons of organic carbon per acre — about the same as the annual CO2 emissions from 115 cars. This is up to 50% more than the carbon stored in salt marshes.