South Dakota · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Fort Meade Recreation Area
BLM found a cultural value here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 14 rights of way inside the line today, and two grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 6,386 acres in South Dakota, managed by BLM's Montana/Dakotas office, and was designated September 26, 1996, in the South Dakota 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
14 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 10 under non-energy facilities, 2 under other energy facilities, 1 under oil & gas facilities and 1 under fiber optic facilities.
- MILES CITY FIELD OFFICE3rights of way
- STURGIS CITY OF3rights of way
- QWEST CORP2rights of way
- BLACK HILLS POWER INC1right of way
- SD DEPT GAME FISH & PARKS1right of way
- BLACK HILLS POWER & LIGHT CO1right of way
- WBI ENERGY TRANSMISSION INC1right of way
- QWEST CORP DBA CENTURYLINK QC1right of way
- GOLDEN WEST TELECOMMUNICATIONS COOPERATIVE INC1right of way
Grazing allotments
2 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- BEAR BUTTE2,862acres
- FT MEADE2,716acres
The nearest areas
- Whoopup Canyon ACECWyoming · 1,414 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it55miles
- Fossil CycadMontana/Dakotas · 318 acres · 1 right of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it71miles
- Finger ButtesMontana/Dakotas · 1,521 acres · 4 grazing allotments covering part of it77miles
- WalsteinMontana/Dakotas · 1,519 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it102miles
- PowdervilleMontana/Dakotas · 9,518 acres · 10 grazing allotments covering part of it120miles
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 Fort Meade Recreation Area. 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