WARREN/PIERMONT — Opposition by more 1,300 people has delayed plans by the White Mountain National Forest to employ “silvicultural treatments” to some 945 acres of the 5,375 acres of land placed under its care in August 2000.

The purpose of the forest management project within the Tarleton Habitat Management Unit is “to use an ecological approach to provide both healthy ecosystems and a sustainable yield of high-quality forest products,” according to the Forest Service.

To opponents of the plan, the proposal threatens the water quality of Lake Tarleton, endangers wildlife, and risks destroying archaeological resources.

The Lake Tarleton area has evoked passionate feelings since 1994 when a proposed resort development threatened to end its use by snowmobilers, hunters, hikers, and birdwatchers and potentially damage the watershed that provides habitat for songbirds, eagles, osprey, and loons, as well as black bears and trout.

A coalition that included the Trust for Public Lands, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Audubon Society of New Hampshire, New Hampshire Nature Conservancy, North Country Council, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Appalachian Mountain Club, and Upper Valley Land Trust, along with the towns of Warren, Piermont, and Benton, succeeded in stopping the development plans and added much of the property to the White Mountain National Forest. Federal backing came from U.S. Senator Judd Gregg, R-NH, and U.S. Congressman Charlie Bass, R-NH.

Lake Tarleton is the largest lake within the national forest, and many people worry that logging operations will harm it and the “pristine forests” that surround it. There also are smaller lakes nearby, including Lake Katherine.

An environmental assessment by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that there would be no long-term negative environmental impact from the logging operations.

“A range of silvicultural treatments would be used to provide commercial wood products, create small and large openings in the forest to allow regeneration of trees and other vegetation and increase wildlife habitat diversity, provide additional growing space to enhance crown and bole development, and encourage the establishment of shade-intolerant species in the understory,” the report states.