Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Mesa Verde Escarpment ACEC
BLM found a natural system and a cultural value here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 6 rights of way inside the line today, and three grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 7,420 acres and was designated January 29, 2020, in the 2020 TRFO ACEC RMP Amendment. In the plan's name, TRFO stands for BLM's Tres Rios Field Office 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
6 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 3 under non-energy facilities and 3 under other energy facilities.
- EMPIRE ELEC ASSN INC3rights of way
- NPS (Mesa Verde National Park)1right of way
- USBR (UPPER COLORADO BASIN REGIONAL OFFICE)1right of way
- Holder not listed by BLM1right of way
Grazing allotments
3 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Mesa Verde6,400acres
- Point Lookout2,900acres
- W Mesa Verde1,670acres
The nearest areas
- Ancestral Puebloan ACECColorado · 801 acres · 2 rights of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it8miles
- Sand Canyon ACEC/RNAColorado · 1,777 acres · 2 oil and gas leases16miles
- Cannonball Mesa ACEC/RNAColorado · 2,436 acres · 6 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it23miles
- Morris 41New Mexico · 95 acres · 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it28miles
- McElmo ACEC/RNAColorado · 4,105 acres · 3 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it28miles
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 Mesa Verde Escarpment 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