Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Sand Canyon ACEC/RNA
BLM found a natural system and a wildlife resource here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 2 oil and gas leases inside the line today. It covers 1,777 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
Ground: USGS The National Map, topographic tiles. Boundaries: BLM's own, read Oct 20, 2026. The 2 leases below aren't marked.The oil and gas leases
2 active oil and gas leases sit inside the line. 2 of them took effect before the area was designated on June 25, 2010.
- Kinder Morgan CO2 Company LLC1lease
- MESSER LLC1lease
The nearest areas
- Cannonball Mesa ACEC/RNAColorado · 2,436 acres · 6 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it7miles
- Ancestral Puebloan ACECColorado · 801 acres · 2 rights of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it8miles
- McElmo ACEC/RNAColorado · 4,105 acres · 3 oil and gas leases, 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it12miles
- HovenweepUtah · 2,439 acres · 1 oil and gas lease, 1 right of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it15miles
- Mesa Verde Escarpment ACECColorado · 7,420 acres · 6 rights of way, 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 Sand Canyon 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