This story was originally produced by the Concord Monitor. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
A federal judge ruled that commercial logging in two North Country sites in the White Mountain National Forest can go forward, raising questions about a similar lawsuit against logging plans in the Sandwich Range.
U.S. District Court Judge Joseph LaPlante rejected many of the arguments against the U.S. Forest Service in a summary judgment handed down Aug. 20. The lawsuit was filed by Standing Trees, a Vermont-based group that advocates for forests on public lands, on behalf of New Hampshire individuals and businesses who would be affected by the logging operation.
“It’s really a ruling on the process: Did the National Forest Service follow the appropriate process … with public hearings and other procedures?” said Jack Savage, president of the Society for the Protection of NH Forests, one of several environmental groups that supported the logging plans.
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The decision is the latest step in years-long debates over two proposals: Peabody West, which would permit commercial logging on approximately 2,200 acres near Randolph and Gorham, and the Tarleton Integrated Resource Project, which would log 880 acres in the towns of Warren and Piermont. Both cuts are in the White Mountain National Forest.
The lawsuit is part of a virtually unending debate how much, if any, large-scale logging should take place in New Hampshire’s publicly-owned forests.
Project advocates usually argue that logging supports rural economies and can, if done properly, actually help the ecology of the forests, which were altered unnaturally by a century of extensive logging and are now being buffeted by climate change and invasive species.
Opponents usually argue that the damage done by large-scale logging is understated, including the need to create roads that must be cut through forests for many miles to let huge trucks haul out cut trees. Such damage requires more review and analysis than is typically done.
The lawsuit was filed by Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic on behalf of Standing Trees. In June, the clinic filed a similar lawsuit against U.S. Forest Service approval of what is known as the Sandwich Vegetation Management Project, near Mount Chocorua. It would allow commercial timber harvest on 638 acres, including at least 16 miles of road construction or reconstruction.
The ruling gives Standing Tress the ability to appeal, which is under consideration.
“We are assessing our options,” said Zach Porter, the executive director of Standing Trees.
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