The Subcommittee on National Parks, Historic Preservation and Recreation considered a $500,000 study proposal for a national park on the watersheds of the San Gabriel River and lower Los Angeles River that would preserve natural areas and tie together a number of existing county and city recreation areas.

The panel also took testimony on a $500,000 feasibility study for the Rim of the Valley Corridor, a proposed 412,000-acre park that would be added to the existing Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, tripling its size.

Durand Jones, deputy director of the National Park Service, said his agency supports both proposals. But he cautioned that President Bush's 2002-03 budget plan includes no money for new projects and is instead focused on a huge backlog of improvements at existing parks.

Jones also recommended that, if approved, the studies be combined and also urged involvement by the U.S. Forest Service, which now oversees many areas that would be included in the parks.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, urged passage of the Senate version of his Rim of the Valley bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. Schiff's House bill is co-sponsored by all Valley-area House members.

"Southern California is home to 10 percent of the nation's population and has the nation's lowest amount of open land per resident," said Schiff. "Our population is continuing to grow, as is the pressure to develop remaining open land. We have a very small window of opportunity to preserve these natural areas."

Rep. Hilda Solis, D-El Monte, echoed those sentiments in support of the Senate version of her watershed park bill, which is sponsored by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and also enjoys bipartisan House support.

"The area this park would serve is home to 2 million people and has been overdeveloped," she said. "The Park Service designation would benefit some of the poorest in our society who breathe polluted air and live next to freeways. This will allow our children to enjoy and learn about our natural resources."

The corridor, already supported by a state master plan and local communities, would encircle the San Fernando and Crescenta valleys. The plan calls for preserving existing natural areas and eventually expanding the park by acquiring and restoring adjacent land now in private hands.

The Lower Los Angeles River and San Gabriel River Watersheds Study Act seeks similar treatment for open areas along the Los Angeles River and its tributaries, from East Los Angeles to Long Beach Harbor, and the San Gabriel River, from its source in the San Gabriel Mountains to Long Beach.

Both lawmakers told the panel they would work with any agency and under any format to make the park projects succeed. Solis also stressed that there were no plans to use eminent domain to acquire property for the watershed project and that it would not disturb existing flood control systems.

The mere fact that the Senate heard their proposals was significant, noted Schiff, who also called the sponsorships by Feinstein and Boxer "a huge boost for these measures."

In Congress, only a small minority of the hundreds of bills competing for attention and funding get to the hearing stage. The odds are even longer for bills authored by House freshmen like Schiff and Solis.

Schiff is still waiting for the House National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Committee to schedule a hearing on his Rim of the Valley bill, which was introduced last year. Solis, a member of that panel along with Rep, Elton Gallegly, R-Oxnard, had her watershed bill heard in June but is still waiting for a vote on the measure.

-- Bill Hillburg can be reached at (202) 662-8925.