Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Deer Gulch ACEC
BLM found a natural system here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 1 right of way inside the line today, and three grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 1,829 acres and was designated July 1, 1997, in the 1997 White River RMP. 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
1 right of way sits inside the line. BLM files 1 under non-energy facilities.
- RIO BLANCO COUNTY (Colorado)1right of way
Grazing allotments
3 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Cow Creek12,909acres
- Schutte Gulch6,144acres
- Davis Cr5,837acres
The nearest areas
- Trapper/Northwater Creek ACECColorado · 6,291 acres · 1 right of way, 5 grazing allotments covering part of it9miles
- Grand Hogback Expansion ACECColorado · 8,801 acres · 1 right of way, 7 grazing allotments covering part of it10miles
- Magpie Gulch ACECColorado · 4,711 acres · 1 oil and gas lease, 6 grazing allotments covering part of it11miles
- East Fork Parachute Creek ACECColorado · 7,074 acres · 4 grazing allotments covering part of it12miles
- Anvil Points ACECColorado · 6,895 acres · 2 oil and gas leases, 6 rights of way, 7 grazing allotments covering part of it14miles
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 Deer Gulch 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