Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Ryan Gulch ACEC
BLM found a natural process here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 3 oil and gas leases and 3 rights of way inside the line today, and a grazing allotment covers part of it. It covers 1,442 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
3 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 2 under non-energy facilities and 1 under other energy facilities.
- QWEST CORP2rights of way
- WHITE RIVER ELECTRIC ASSN1right of way
The oil and gas leases
3 active oil and gas leases sit inside the line. 0 of them took effect before the area was designated on July 1, 1997.
- Holder not listed by BLM3leases
Grazing allotments
A grazing allotment covers part of this line. Its permittee isn't named here yet.
- Square S77,168acres
The nearest areas
- Dudley Bluffs ACECColorado · 1,618 acres · 1 oil and gas lease, 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it3miles
- Duck Creek ACECColorado · 3,472 acres · 3 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it6miles
- Blacks Gulch ACECColorado · 801 acres · 1 right of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it16miles
- Lower Greaswood Creek ACECColorado · 203 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it16miles
- South Cathedral Bluffs ACECColorado · 1,324 acres · 3 grazing allotments covering part of it16miles
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 Ryan 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