Wyoming · Area of Critical Environmental Concern
White Mountain Petroglyphs ACEC
BLM found a wildlife resource, a cultural value and a scenic value 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 22 acres and was designated December 22, 2024, in the Rock Springs 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.
Plan in motion
Rock Springs RMP amendment names this area among the ACECs it covers. BLM's notice of October 2, 2025 says:
The BLM will re-evaluate the existing designations for ACECs, SRMAs, and the NHT corridor to assess whether special management is needed to protect sensitive resource values and whether mineral development can be allowed in certain circumstances.BLM, Notice of Intent To Amend the Resource Management Plan for the Rock Springs Field Office, Wyoming, 90 FR 47815, Oct. 2, 2025, FR Doc. 2025-19198, read Oct 18, 2026
Notice of intent October 2, 2025. Scoping comments closed November 3, 2025. We found no later notice for it in the Federal Register when we read it on October 18, 2026. The plan on BLM's ePlanning.
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.
- Sands110,430acres
The nearest areas
- Greater Sand Dunes ACECWyoming · 26,753 acres · 1 oil and gas lease, 4 grazing allotments covering part of it10miles
- Natural Corrals ACECWyoming · 1,107 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it20miles
- Steamboat Mountain ACECWyoming · 439,123 acres · 39 oil and gas leases, 32 rights of way, 14 grazing allotments covering part of it21miles
- Pinnacles ACECWyoming · 1,344 acres · a grazing allotment covering part of it31miles
- Oregon Buttes ACECWyoming · 3,441 acres · 2 grazing allotments covering part of it32miles
More from BLM's Wyoming office
Every area BLM's Wyoming 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 White Mountain Petroglyphs ACEC. 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