VALLEY NEWS • April 25, 2022
The U.S. Forest Service released a revised environmental assessment of its plan to log 880 acres of land around Lake Tarleton, a high altitude lake in the White Mountain National Forest, after outspoken local criticism. Controversy has mounted. “It was disappointing,” said Peter Faletra of the revised environmental assessment. He and his wife, Elaine, live in Warren and use the lake frequently. They are both members of the Lake Tarleton Coalition, a grassroots group opposed to the Forest Service’s plan. “It was all or nothing, is what it seemed to me,” Elaine Faletra said. As it did in the first draft assessment, the Forest Service concluded that there would be no significant impact on the “quality of the human environment,” a claim the coalition objects to. The Forest Service’s conclusion means that it will not pursue an environmental impact statement.