California · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Death Valley 17 WSA
BLM found a natural system, a wildlife resource, a cultural value, a natural process 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 21,081 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
- Denning SpringsCalifornia · 446 acres · nothing placed inside2miles
- Salt Creek HillsCalifornia · 2,207 acres · 1 right of way10miles
- Avawatz Mountains WSACalifornia · 53,159 acres · nothing placed inside10miles
- Kingston Range WSACalifornia · 42,371 acres · nothing placed inside17miles
- Amargosa SouthCalifornia · 161,328 acres · at least 68 active mining claims and 15 more BLM lists as Filed or Under Review, 26 rights of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it24miles
Next to it
Denning Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern touches 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 Death Valley 17 WSA. 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