4 Wednesday, July 8, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Forest Service seeks to protect caves On the Deschutes National Forest there are approxi- mately 700 known caves, which are often abused by forest users, including van- dalism, lighting fires, playing music, excavating and remov- ing geologic and archaeologic resources, installing per- manent anchors or bolts for climbing, leaving human and domestic animal body waste, and disturbing bats and other wildlife. The Deschutes National Forest is seeking public com- ment on a proposed Cave Management Forest Order that would prohibit specific activities in and around caves where these activities are causing adverse impacts to cave resources. Most of these prohibitions are taken from existing forest orders and the proposed order would com- bine these orders into one with some additional changes. In addition to current pro- hibitions, the proposed Cave Management Forest Order would: " Protect all cave sinks and a 50-foot buffer from any cave entrance or opening. " Prohibit lighting, main- taining, attending, or using any burning material; dig- ging, excavating, and/or depositing any foreign mate- rial; playing live or recorded music; broadcasting glitter, dust (beyond what is naturally produced by walking and crawling), smoke, or other substances into the air; slack- lining; and depositing any domestic animal body waste within all caves. " Prohibit entering or being in Lava River Cave (west tube, show cave) from October 1 through April 30 (winter closure), or until the beginning of the open season, whichever is latest; entering or being in Lava River Cave (west tube, show cave) from May 1 to September 30, or after the end of the open sea- son, whichever is earliest, between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 a.m.; entering or being in the last 300 feet of the west tube (west tube, show cave); entering or being in the gated east tube of the cave year round; and climbing or boul- dering within the cave, cave sink, and within 50 feet of any cave entrance, opening, or cave sink. " Prohibit entering or being within Skeleton Cave year- round and climbing or boul- dering inside or outside the gate at the cave entrance from October 1 through April 30. " Close year-round Bat, Charlie the Cave (both upper and lower chambers), Cody Borehole, Eternity, Infinity, Lavacicle and Wind caves. " Seasonally close Arnold Ice, Lee9s, Lower Quartz Mountain, and Skylight caves October 1 through April 30. The public comment period will end on July 23. The draft environmen- tal assessment is available online at www.fs.usda.gov/ project/?project=57443. Written comments must be submitted using one of the following methods: " Electronic comments can be submitted to comments- pacificnorthwest-deschutes@ usda.gov. Electronic com- ments must be submitted as part of the email message or as an attachment in Microsoft Word (.doc), rich text format (.rtf), or portable document format (.pdf) only. " For electronically sub- mitted comments, the sender should receive an automated acknowledgment from the agency as confirmation of receipt. If the sender does not receive automated acknowl- edgment of the receipt of the comments, it is the sender9s responsibility to ensure timely receipt by other means. " Postal mail or hand- delivery (Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays) to: Forest Supervisor Holly Jewkes, c/o Sasha Fertig, 63095 Deschutes Market Rd., Bend, OR 97701. " FAX: 541-383-5553. Only people who submit timely and specific written comments will have eligi- bility to file an objection. Names and contact informa- tion submitted with com- ments will become part of the public record and may be released under the Freedom of Information Act. Additional information can be obtained from Environmental Coordinator Sasha Fertig, 541-383-5563, sasha.fertig@ usda.gov. Hazardous City of Sisters COVID-19 Situation Report waste disposal event set in Sisters By Cory Misley City Manager This summer, Deschutes C o u n t y 9s D e p a r t m e n t of Solid Waste is host- ing special one-day col- lection events in La Pine, Redmond and Sisters where residents can drop off house- hold hazardous waste for free.