Larry Blaine, right, outdoor recreation planner for the Barstow office of the Bureau of Land Management, guides brothers Mike Pfeifer, not pictured, of Crestline and Dan Pfeifer of Newport Beach as they explore “Spooky Cave” in Afton Canyon Natural Area. Congress is considering a national landscape conservation system similar to the national parks system that would protect 26 million acres across the West. But most of the sweeping 11-million-acre California Desert Conservation Area is not included, puzzling environmentalists and public land managers in the state. Afton Canyon, considered the “Grand Canyon of the Mojave,” is about 45 minutes east of Barstow.
