California · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Surprise Canyon
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 4,643 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
- Warm Sulfur SpringsCalifornia · 348 acres · nothing placed inside3miles
- Panamint LakeCalifornia · 23,106 acres · at least 26 mining claims BLM lists as Filed8miles
- Panamints and ArgusCalifornia · 104,523 acres · at least 17 active mining claims and 43 more BLM lists as Filed or Submitted, 21 rights of way14miles
- Great Falls BasinCalifornia · 11,094 acres · at least 1 active mining claim, 3 rights of way21miles
- Mohave Ground SquirrelCalifornia · 213,299 acres · at least 32 active mining claims and 370 more BLM lists as Filed, 72 rights of way, 10 grazing allotments covering part of it36miles
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 Surprise Canyon. 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