(Photo | Pexels)
The Deschutes National Forest is beginning a 30-day scoping period to gather public input about revising the Cave Resource Protection Forest Order on the national forest. A Forest Order outlines what, where, how and when certain activities are restricted or prohibited on a national forest.
Four previous Forest Orders since the 1990s have addressed restrictions or prohibitions for a variety of activities that cause adverse impacts to cave resources in the Forest. The proposed revision would take those existing orders and create a single, more comprehensive and consistent Forest Order for the entire national forest. In other words, there would be little change to what is already being enforced.
“Consolidating regulations will help us be more responsive to changing recreational use patterns, clarify regulations to avoid or minimize adverse resource impacts and, importantly, protect the unique and extremely fragile environments of the 700 known caves in the forest,” said Holly Jewkes, forest supervisor for the Deschutes National Forest.
The goal of the Cave Resource Protection Forest Order is to:
- Provide consistency in management, protection, use and development of caves in the Deschutes National Forest.
- Reduce the risk of spread of white-nose syndrome to bats in the Deschutes National Forest, including Region 6 Sensitive Townsend’s big-eared bat, pallid bat, spotted bat and fringed myotis.
- Avoid adverse impacts to cultural resources, geologic features, wildlife, mosses and other cave resources from Forest users.
The public can find out more information about the specifics of the proposal and how to comment by going to the following link (fs.usda.gov/project/?project=57443) or by contacting Sasha Fertig, forest planner, Deschutes National Forest at sasha.fertig@usda.gov or 541-383-5563.
