Montana · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Hell Creek
BLM found a natural system here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 5 rights of way inside the line today, and nine grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 37,534 acres and was designated April 22, 1996, 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
The rights of way
5 rights of way sit inside the line. BLM files 3 under non-energy facilities, 1 under other energy facilities and 1 under fiber optic facilities.
- MT STATE HWY COMMISSION1right of way
- Holder not listed by BLM1right of way
- MCCONE ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE INC1right of way
- MID-RIVERS TELEPHONE COOPERATIVE INC1right of way
- GARFIELD COUNTY (Montana)1right of way
Grazing allotments
9 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- BINION ALLOTMENT118,377acres
- MCKEEVER ALLOTMENT22,230acres
- DEAVER18,283acres
- ENGDAHL ALLOTMENT15,803acres
- OLSON, NORMAN8,836acres
- J. BAKER INDIVIDUAL8,762acres
- MCDONALD ALLOTMENT5,081acres
- COULTER B ALLOTMENT5,027acres
- CLARKE UNIT4,311acres
The nearest areas
- Smokey ButteMontana/Dakotas · 40 acres · 1 right of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it14miles
- Jordan Bison KillMontana/Dakotas · 161 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it19miles
- Flat CreekMontana/Dakotas · 339 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it29miles
- Ash Creek DivideMontana/Dakotas · 8,283 acres · 6 grazing allotments covering part of it31miles
- Mountain PloverMontana/Dakotas · 24,793 acres · at least 50 active mining claims, 8 grazing allotments covering part of it37miles
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 Hell 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