MARK WAITE / PVT The Amargosa Canyon would be among the sections of the Amargosa River that would be designated as wild and scenic through a bill working its way through Congress. Advertisement

WASHINGTON -- The Bureau of Land Management told Congress Thursday, it supports designating stretches of the Amargosa River in California for special federal protection.

"The Amargosa, known locally as the 'Crown Jewel of the Mojave Desert,' is the only free-flowing river in the Death Valley area and as such provides a rare and lush riparian space in the desert," the agency said in testimony presented at a House hearing.

The subcommittee on national parks, forests and public lands studied a wide-ranging bill submitted by California Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon, D-Santa Clarita, that would designate more than 470,000 acres of wilderness in the Eastern Sierras and similarly preserve 52 miles of waterway.

One provision would place 26.3 miles of the Amargosa River into the "national wild and scenic river" system that seeks to conserve natural and free-flowing streams.

Segments of the Amargosa River proposed for the new declaration run near Tecopa Hot Springs, Sperry Wash and Dumont Dunes.

About 19 miles of Owens River headwaters in the Inyo National Forest and 7.25 miles of Piru Creek in the Angeles and Los Padres National forests also would be placed in the system.

While the BLM was generally welcoming McKeon's bill as it affects lands and waters under its jurisdiction, the National Forest Service raised several questions about parts of the proposal.

Forest Service Deputy Chief Joel Holtrop said, for instance, his agency has not conducted a suitability study of all segments of the Owens River and Piru Creek proposed for protection.

Holtrop said the agency is willing to work with Congress to refine the bill. "The Forest Service has always been a champion of wildnerness," he said.

McKeon said the bill was a product of repeated meetings with constituents, and negotiations with Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is sponsoring a Senate version.

The congressman called it a compromise that balances new wilderness with the release of lands from wilderness study so they can be managed for multiple uses.

More than 95 percent of Mono and Inyo counties in California are federally managed, which "often pits the needs of the public [against] those of the federal government."

McKeon's bill designates 414,856 acres of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and Inyo National Forest as wilderness, and another 57,144 acreas of BLM land in the region.

At the same time it releases 51,000 acres of BLM land from wilderness study.

With only weeks remaining in this year's congressional session, it is likely the bill will be held over until next year. A subcommittee spokesman said the panel has not scheduled any further business meetings this year where the bill could be debated.