Washington · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
Cowiche Canyon
BLM found a natural system 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 613 acres in Washington, managed by BLM's Oregon/Washington office, and was designated December 17, 1992, in the Spokane District RMP Amendment. In the plan's name, RMP stands for 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.
- OR10857355acres
The nearest areas
- Yakima River Cliffs - Umtanum RidgeOregon/Washington · 230 acres · 1 right of way, a grazing allotment covering part of it12miles
- Yakima River CanyonOregon/Washington · 5,227 acres · 5 rights of way, 3 grazing allotments covering part of it17miles
- McCoy CanyonOregon/Washington · 165 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it37miles
- Sentinel SlopeOregon/Washington · 124 acres · nothing placed inside42miles
- Colockum CreekOregon/Washington · 80 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it53miles
More from BLM's Oregon/Washington office
Every area BLM's Oregon/Washington 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 Cowiche Canyon. 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