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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. …The lawsuit was filed by Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Environmental Advocacy Clinic on behalf of Standing Trees.