New Mexico · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Cerro Verde
BLM found a wildlife resource, a scenic value and a natural process here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place 1 right of way inside the line today, and two grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 4,618 acres and was designated December 23, 2024, in the Rio Puerco 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
The rights of way
1 right of way sits inside the line. BLM files 1 under non-energy facilities.
- DENALI ENTERPRISES1right of way
Grazing allotments
2 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Arroyo Lucero38,264acres
- Cerro Verde32,581acres
The nearest areas
- Pronoun Cave ComplexNew Mexico · 1,261 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it3miles
- Petaca PintaNew Mexico · 11,491 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it13miles
- Bony CanyonNew Mexico · 549 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it32miles
- Ladron Mountain - Devil's Backbone ComplexNew Mexico · 60,439 acres · 15 rights of way, 24 grazing allotments covering part of it35miles
- Legacy Uranium MinesNew Mexico · 50 acres · 3 grazing allotments covering part of it44miles
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 Cerro Verde. 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