New Mexico · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Legacy Uranium Mines
BLM found a natural hazard here, and its plan calls for special management. BLM's records place no claim, lease or right of way inside the line today, and three grazing allotments cover part of it. It covers 50 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
Ground: USGS The National Map, topographic tiles. Boundaries: BLM's own, read Oct 20, 2026. The 3 grazing allotments below aren't marked.Grazing allotments
3 grazing allotments cover part of this line. Their permittees aren't named here yet.
- Cocina Allotment8,060acres
- San Mateo7,484acres
- Los Pinos Arroyo4,267acres
The nearest areas
- San Miguel DomeNew Mexico · 4,437 acres · 3 grazing allotments covering part of it12miles
- Ignacio ChavezNew Mexico · 39,457 acres · 7 grazing allotments covering part of it15miles
- Cañon TapiaNew Mexico · 579 acres · 5 grazing allotments covering part of it17miles
- Guadalupe Ruin and CommunityNew Mexico · 429 acres · 4 grazing allotments covering part of it19miles
- Kin NizhoniNew Mexico · 915 acres · 1 right of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it20miles
Next to it
Elk Springs Area of Critical Environmental Concern touches the line.
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 Legacy Uranium Mines. 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