New Mexico · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Alkali Lakes
BLM found a natural system and a natural process 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 6,353 acres and was designated December 1, 1993, in the White Sands Resource Management 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.
- Guadalupe Ranch23,472acres
The nearest areas
- Lonesome RidgeNew Mexico · 2,983 acres · 3 grazing allotments covering part of it18miles
- Wind MountainNew Mexico · 2,310 acres · at least 125 active mining claims, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it28miles
- Cornudas MountainNew Mexico · 853 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it28miles
- Dark CanyonNew Mexico · 1,526 acres · 1 right of way, 2 grazing allotments covering part of it35miles
- Alamo MountainNew Mexico · 2,530 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it36miles
More from BLM's New Mexico office
Every area BLM's New Mexico 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 Alkali Lakes. 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