The Pumice Springs project location is approximately thirty-five miles southeast of Bend, immediately west of the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) Sand Springs Substation and powerline corridor on Road 23. (This is south of Pine Mountain in northern Lake County.) The focus of the project is to protect and enhance two natural waterholes that provide water for wildlife as they represent 66% of the only natural water in the area. The larger waterhole provides water throughout the year and the smaller one usually has water throughout much of the summer. These waterholes are in a low basin that is generally open from conifers that surround the site in a pumice basin. There is sensitive plant habitat in the open pumice flat to protect and enhance. Currently there are multiple roads that access the area and there has been repeated off road use by OHVs across the flat.

The project would construct an exterior “wildlife friendly” fence of 1.5 miles around the two ponds and adjacent pumice flats, an area of approximately 41 acres. The fence would include four special wildlife passage braces to enhance access for mammals, but would prevent livestock from entering the area. American pronghorn and deer regularly visit the waterholes. The three strand fence would also exclude motorized access and block five existing road access points into the fenced area, but would allow for foot traffic.

The project also proposes to construct a small wildlife viewing blind for birds and ungulates at the South Pond. Access would be walk-in only with a parking area nearby. Both the viewing blind and the parking area will be ADA compatible (Americans with Disabilities Act). One or more portable photo blinds may be designated near one or both ponds.

In addition, this project will also reconstruct the existing north bird blind at the Cabin Lake site some distance to the southwest of this location, including a higher doorway.

ECAS is partnering with the USFS to complete bird surveys and provide volunteers for this project.

Comments may be submitted electronically to: comments-pacificnorthwest-deschutes-bend-ftrock@fs.fed.us. Our comments would be most useful if received on or before September 24, 2010 and if they are as specific as possible.

Comments must be submitted as part of the actual e-mail message, or as an attachment in Microsoft Word, rich text format (rtf), or portable document format (pdf) only. E-mails submitted to e-mail addresses other than the one listed above, in other formats than those listed, or containing viruses will be rejected. Please put “Pumice Springs Restoration Project Scoping Comments” in the subject line of your email.