Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Blanca Wetlands ACEC
BLM found a natural system and a wildlife resource here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 7 rights of way inside the line today, and nine grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 122,660 acres and was designated July 28, 2014, in the 2014 Blanca Wetlands ACEC RMP Amendment. In the plan's name, RMP stands 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
The rights of way
7 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 6 under non-energy facilities and 1 under other energy facilities.
- USBR (ALAMOSA FIELD DIVISION)3rights of way
- TREETABLE LLC1right of way
- CO DEPT OF TRANS1right of way
- PUBLIC SERVICE CO OF CO1right of way
- CO DIVISION OF RECL MIN & SAFETY1right of way
Grazing allotments
9 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Blanca WHA5,998acres
- Tobin Creek5,996acres
- Dry Lakes4,425acres
- Lakes3,028acres
- Pinon2,935acres
- Dow Pasture1,439acres
- Caldwell Pasture851acres
- Phiffer Pasture640acres
- Bachelor Lake319acres
The nearest areas
- Elephant Rocks ACECColorado · 1,845 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it26miles
- San Luis Hills ACECColorado · 36,472 acres · at least 3 active mining claims and 79 more BLM lists as Filed, 4 rights of way, 9 grazing allotments covering part of it40miles
- Trickle Mountain ACECColorado · 43,857 acres · 4 rights of way, 13 grazing allotments covering part of it41miles
- Ra Jadero Canyon ACECColorado · 3,652 acres · 3 grazing allotments covering part of it44miles
- Rio Grande River Corridor ACECColorado · 5,357 acres · at least 1 mining claim BLM lists as Filed, 1 right of way, 6 grazing allotments covering part of it46miles
More from BLM's Colorado office
Every area BLM's Colorado 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 Blanca Wetlands ACEC. 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