California · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Cronese Basin
BLM found a cultural value and a historic value here, and its plan calls for special management. Nothing that BLM's records place sits inside the line today. It covers 10,201 acres and was designated September 14, 2016, in the CDCA Plan, as amended by DRECP. In the plan's name, CDCA stands for California Desert Conservation Area and DRECP for Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan.
One of the 1,120 places the Bureau of Land Management has designated an Area of Critical Environmental Concern. This page shows its line, what BLM found there and what sits inside it.
The line
Ground: USGS The National Map, topographic tiles. Boundaries: BLM's own, read Oct 20, 2026.Inside the line
Nothing sits inside this line that BLM's records place: no mining claim, lease, right of way or grazing allotment.
The nearest areas
- Soda Mountains WSACalifornia · 93,119 acres · 1 right of way6miles
- Afton CanyonCalifornia · 9,195 acres · at least 1 mining claim BLM lists as Filed, 5 rights of way8miles
- Soda Mountains ExpansionCalifornia · 18,817 acres · at least 1 mining claim BLM lists as Filed, 16 rights of way10miles
- Mesquite Hills/CruceroCalifornia · 5,031 acres · 2 rights of way12miles
- Cady Mountains WSACalifornia · 117,643 acres · at least 1 active mining claim and 1 more BLM lists as Filed12miles
Next to it
Superior-Cronese Area of Critical Environmental Concern, Soda Mountains Expansion Area of Critical Environmental Concern and Soda Mountains Wilderness Study Area of Critical Environmental Concern touch the line.
More from BLM's California office
Every area BLM's California office holdsThe proposed rule
A proposed rule, RIN 1004-AF53, would change how BLM drafts every land use plan, and how it designates ACECs like Cronese Basin. The comment window hasn't opened: the proposed rule wasn't in the Federal Register at our last check. The Watch sends one email the day it prints.
The rule's abstract
The purpose of this rulemaking is to establish in regulations an updated process for the approval of the development, revision, amendment, and maintenance of land use plans, as provided for by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, for public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Additionally, this rulemaking will provide clarification of the process the BLM uses for designating Areas of Critical Environmental Concern.Unified Agenda entry for RIN 1004-AF53, Publication ID 2026, reginfo.gov (OMB OIRA), read Oct 18, 2026