California · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Southern Inyo WSA
BLM found a natural system, a wildlife resource and a natural process here, and its plan calls for special management. Nothing that BLM's records place sits inside the line today. It covers 2,808 acres and was designated September 14, 2016, in the Bishop RMP, as amended by DRECP. In the plan's name, DRECP stands for Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan and RMP for resource management 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
- Keynot PeakCalifornia · 2,164 acres · nothing placed inside3miles
- Independence Creek WSACalifornia · 6,480 acres · at least 1 mining claim BLM lists as Filed, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it9miles
- ManzanarCalifornia · 573 acres · at least 2 mining claims BLM lists as Filed, 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it9miles
- Saline ValleyCalifornia · 1,390 acres · nothing placed inside10miles
- Symmes Creek WSACalifornia · 8,372 acres · at least 3 mining claims BLM lists as Filed, 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it12miles
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 Southern Inyo 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