Colorado · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
West Antelope Creek ACEC
BLM found a wildlife resource here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 11 rights of way inside the line today, and seven grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 29,045 acres and was designated October 17, 2024, in the 2024 Gunnison Sage-Grouse RMP Amendment. 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
11 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 9 under non-energy facilities and 2 under other energy facilities.
- USFS (GRAND MESA-UNCOMPAHGRE-GUNNISON NATIONAL FOREST)3rights of way
- CO DEPT OF TRANS2rights of way
- GRAND MESA, UNCOMPAHGRE AND GUNNISON NATIONAL FORESTS2rights of way
- GUNNISON COUNTY (Colorado)1right of way
- QWEST CORP1right of way
- GUNNISON COUNTY ELEC1right of way
- BLUE MESA REC RANCH1right of way
Grazing allotments
7 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Allotment USFS-GRZ-10281.01043132,076acres
- Allotment USFS-GRZ-10285.01043128,587acres
- Allotment USFS-GRZ-10264.01043125,230acres
- Stevens Cr Com12,533acres
- Stueben Cr985acres
- McIntosh Mountain918acres
- W Gunnison199acres
The nearest areas
- Dillon Pinnacles ACECColorado · 940 acres · nothing placed inside9miles
- South Beaver Creek ACECColorado · 4,545 acres · 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it9miles
- Sapinero Mesa ACECColorado · 17,242 acres · at least 39 active mining claims, 2 rights of way, 5 grazing allotments covering part of it10miles
- Chance Gulch ACECColorado · 13,804 acres · at least 3 active mining claims, 6 rights of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it13miles
- Needle Rock ACECColorado · 82 acres · 2 rights of way28miles
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 West Antelope Creek 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