Montana · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Finger Buttes
BLM found a scenic value here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place no claim, lease or right of way inside the line today, and four grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 1,521 acres and was designated March 10, 1999, in the Miles City 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
Ground: USGS The National Map, topographic tiles. Boundaries: BLM's own, read Oct 20, 2026. The 4 grazing allotments below aren't marked.Grazing allotments
4 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- THOMAS31,413acres
- HAWKNEST CREEK10,768acres
- FINGER BUTTES RANCH7,133acres
- JUNE WALKER4,480acres
The nearest areas
- WalsteinMontana/Dakotas · 1,519 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it38miles
- PowdervilleMontana/Dakotas · 9,518 acres · 10 grazing allotments covering part of it42miles
- Reynolds BattlefieldMontana/Dakotas · 928 acres · 4 grazing allotments covering part of it73miles
- Fort Meade Recreation AreaMontana/Dakotas · 6,386 acres · 14 rights of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it77miles
- HoeMontana/Dakotas · 145 acres · 1 right of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it102miles
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 Finger Buttes. 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