Montana · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Big Bend of the Milk River
BLM found a cultural value here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 1 right of way inside the line today, and six grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 1,992 acres and was designated September 19, 1994, in the HiLine RMP (2015). In the plan's name, RMP stands for resource management plan. The plan's name carries a later year than that date: BLM's map gives the date it records for the area, and a plan approved later can carry forward an area designated earlier.
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
1 right of way sits inside the line. BLM files 1 under other energy facilities.
- BIG FLAT ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC1right of way
Grazing allotments
6 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- HORSE CAMP COULEE11,600acres
- WEST HEWITT LAKE6,972acres
- SOUTH BIG BEND4,680acres
- BEAUCOUP3,355acres
- HORSE CAMP COULEE2,425acres
- COOK COULEE601acres
The nearest areas
- Malta GeologicMontana/Dakotas · 6,153 acres · 1 right of way, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it10miles
- Frenchman BreaksMontana/Dakotas · 42,020 acres · 2 rights of way, 16 grazing allotments covering part of it31miles
- Woody IslandMontana/Dakotas · 32,871 acres · 1 right of way, 15 grazing allotments covering part of it44miles
- Bitter CreekMontana/Dakotas · 60,885 acres · 2 rights of way, 9 grazing allotments covering part of it45miles
- Mountain PloverMontana/Dakotas · 24,793 acres · at least 50 active mining claims, 8 grazing allotments covering part of it48miles
More from BLM's Montana/Dakotas office
Every area BLM's Montana/Dakotas 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 Big Bend of the Milk River. 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