Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
McElmo ACEC/RNA
BLM found a wildlife resource, a cultural value, a scenic value, a natural process, a historic value, a fish resource and a natural hazard here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 3 oil and gas leases and 1 right of way inside the line today, and two grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 4,105 acres and was designated June 25, 2010, in the 2010 CANM RMP. In the plan's name, CANM stands for Canyons of the Ancients National Monument 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
The rights of way
1 right of way sits inside the line. BLM files 1 under non-energy facilities.
- QWEST CORP1right of way
The oil and gas leases
3 active oil and gas leases sit inside the line. 3 of them took effect before the area was designated on June 25, 2010.
- XTO ENERGY INC3leases
Grazing allotments
2 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Cross Canyon42,139acres
- Lower McElmo9,055acres
The nearest areas
- HovenweepUtah · 2,439 acres · 1 oil and gas lease, 1 right of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it3miles
- Cannonball Mesa ACEC/RNAColorado · 2,436 acres · 6 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it5miles
- Sand Canyon ACEC/RNAColorado · 1,777 acres · 2 oil and gas leases12miles
- Ancestral Puebloan ACECColorado · 801 acres · 2 rights of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it20miles
- Alkali RidgeUtah · 39,197 acres · at least 2 mining claims BLM lists as Filed, 14 oil and gas leases, 21 rights of way, 7 grazing allotments covering part of it23miles
Next to it
Hovenweep Area of Critical Environmental Concern touches the line.
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 McElmo ACEC/RNA. 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