Idaho · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Cottonwood Creek
BLM found a natural system, a wildlife resource and a fish resource here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place no claim, lease or right of way inside the line today, and a grazing allotment covers part of it. It covers 326 acres and was designated August 13, 1992, in the Bruneau MFP 1983 / Bruneau MFP Amendment 1992. In the plan's name, MFP stands for management framework 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 grazing allotment below isn't marked.Grazing allotments
A grazing allotment covers part of this line. Its permittee isn't named here yet.
- Northwest254,467acres
The nearest areas
- Mud Flat OoliteIdaho · 5 acres · nothing placed inside22miles
- Lower Bruneau CanyonIdaho · 963 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it24miles
- Owyhee River Bighorn Sheep Habitat AreaIdaho · 57,138 acres · at least 21 active mining claims, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it29miles
- The Tules RNAIdaho · 114 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it31miles
- Owyhee River Bighorn Sheep Habitat AreaIdaho · 143,911 acres · at least 1 active mining claim, 3 rights of way, 10 grazing allotments covering part of it37miles
More from BLM's Idaho office
Every area BLM's Idaho 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 Cottonwood Creek. 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