By Paula Tracy
CONCORD – A lawsuit brought against the White Mountain National Forest Service opposing its plan to log and develop recreation opportunities and protect from runoff Lakes Tarleton and Katherine and a tract near Gorham known as the Peabody West project is not being supported by eight New Hampshire conservation organizations and one individual.
Standing Trees, based in Vermont, https://www.standingtrees.org/ whose mission is to see old growth forests return to New England, filed a suit against the federal project on May 16.
Led by the Society for the Protection of NH Forests https://www.forestsociety.org/, the New Hampshire group filed an amicus brief in federal district court, here Nov. 14 in support of the White Mountain National Forest, saying the plan is well thought out and balances goals set out in its 2005 Forest Plan. And it argues that the projects represent only 1 percent of the forest which they argue Standing Trees wants to carve out as a sort of wilderness area.
The amicus group, which includes the New Hampshire Timberland Owners Association, the Appalachian Mountain Club, the NH Wildlife Federation, the Ruffed Grouse and American Woodcock Society, the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the Nature Conservancy, the Granite State Division of the Society of American Foresters and Charlie Niebling, says in its pleadings that the project furthers the goals of the 2025 Forest Plan which many of them worked on, advancing goals of recreation and timber management.
The Tarleton Integrated Resource Plan in the White Mountain Forest Pemi Ranger District was approved by Josh Sjostrom, district ranger about a year ago.
It also approved a logging plan for a tract near Gorham, called the Peabody West Integrated Resources Project, which is also being appealed by Standing Trees and is part of the amicus brief.
The Tarleton plan, which has been twice revised and received over 600 comments since inception in 2019 looks to log on 755 acres, generating 5 million measured board feet of wood, reconstruct about 1.5 miles of road, rebuild a boat launch and recontour parking at Lake Katherine and provide fencing and barriers to make it more resilient to storm and storm runoff.