BLM backs plan to label Armagosa River a RIPARIAN zone

[Richard Cheese]

Bill would protect Amargosa River

By STEPHEN TETREAULT

STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

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., :moon: 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.

seems like there are endless avenues to attempt to shut down, block off, and eliminate our playground

[EY3BA11]

we have gone over this before... and why RIDING OUT OF BOUNDS needs to be kept to a minimum. Also i do believe a while back at one of the meetings we discussed what we were going to do if this was to come into play.. I do believe they were going to petition to keep the crossing and if they have to close everything else off.. Its a current access road and i do believe its a inyo county access road as well. I dont think inyo county would like it to omuch if people came in and said yo we be closin down your access road plus what is it going to hurt to keep a 60' wide section of the river un protected thats already covered in concrete. There will be no dammage to the surrounding area or the river itself hell the damage is already done

I dont see this being near as big of an issue as the lizzard thing.

[Richard Cheese]

plus what is it going to hurt to keep a 60' wide section of the river un protected thats already covered in concrete.

youre asking the wrong people... that needs to be asked of people like Boxer and that other schmuck from, where is it?? Santa clarita?? (funny how none of these 's have even been out to the area)

and from what i have seen at the river crossing...that area is FAR from a raparian zone :clown:

btw ISBB...nice :moon: ...yo access road "

[EY3BA11]

:rainbow1:

[beau]

The stretch of the river from just south of Tecopa through Sperry Wash and through the dunes that I think is a 15 miles long is being labeled a "recreational" designation, North and South of that section will be designated "Wild and Scenic". I looked into it the instant I heard Armagosa River when the bill was first announced.

As far as Boxer goes she's nothing but a lying sack of *^&$!!!! My mother is Inyo County's 3rd District Supervisor. The Inyo County Supervisors are 100% against this bill and have done all they can to fight it. Unfortunately the Mono County Supervisors are mostly in approval of it. There were meetings held in Bishop and Independence by the Supervisors for public comment on the issue since Boxer and McKeon broke the law and decided not to hold public meetings in the effected areas. There was an overwhelming opposition to the bill. Senator Boxer appeared in front of Congress's Natural Recourses Committee to propose the bill, the Supervisors had a live feed from the hearing, Boxer claimed that the bill was necessary for saving the wilderness areas of CA and more importantly was completely unopposed.

The AAPL group has been working very very hard to prevent such a designation from happening. They have come up with a designation that would be much more appealing to the majority of people. The designation is called "Semi-Primitive Recreational".

Here's a link to the maps of the proposed wilderness Clicky

Edit-- Apparently they have updated the maps for the Armagosa River since they initially announced the bill. The original maps showed from Tecopa South to 127 as recreational. Now the maps show the section of Sperry Wash that is in the Kingston Wilderness as "Wild" but North and South of it as "Recreational" I don't know how that will effect the trail.

Edited September 16, 2008 by beau