List of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern in Colorado
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Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a
conservation ecology ''Ecology and Society'' (formerly ''Conservation Ecology'') is a quarterly open access interdisciplinary academic journal published by the Resilience Alliance. It covers an array of disciplines from the natural sciences, social sciences, and the h ...
program in the
Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...
, managed by the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM). The ACEC program was conceived in the 1976 Federal Lands Policy and Management Act ( FLPMA), which established the first conservation ecology mandate for the BLM. The FLPMA mandate directs the BLM to protect important riparian corridors, threatened and endangered species
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
s,
cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...
and
archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscape ...
resources, as well as unique scenic landscapes that the agency assesses as in need of special management attention.


Criteria

To be considered a potential ACEC an area must meet criteria of both relevance and importance.


Relevance

An area meets the relevance criteria of an ACEC if it contains one or more of the following: *A significant historic, cultural, or scenic value; *A fish or wildlife resource; *A natural process or system (including but not limited to areas supporting rare, endemic, relict, or endangered plant species, or rare geological features); *Natural hazards (most notably areas of avalanche, unstable soils, rockfall).


Importance

An area meets the importance criteria if it is characterized by one or more of the following: *Has more than locally significant qualities; *Has qualities or circumstances that make it fragile, sensitive, irreplaceable, rare, unique; *Has been recognized as warranting protection to satisfy national priority concerns or to carry out the mandates of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act; *Has qualities which warrant concern about safety and public welfare; *Poses a significant threat to human life and safety, or to property.


Designated ACECs


Alaska

*
Sukakpak Mountain Sukakpak Mountain is a prominent 4,459-foot (1,359 meter) mountain summit located in the Philip Smith Mountains of the Brooks Range, in the U.S. state of Alaska. The peak is situated 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle near milepost 203 on the D ...
(2944 acres)


Arizona

*Witch Pool (279 acres) *Nampaweap (535 acres) *Pakoon (76,014 acres) *Beaver Dam Slope (51,197 acres) *Virgin River Corridor (8,075 acres) *Virgin Slope (39,931 acres) *Little Black Mountain (241 acres) *Fort Pearce (916 acres) *Marble Canyon (11,012 acres) *Johnson Springs (2,464 acres) *Lost Spring Mountain (8,262 acres) *Moonshine Ridge (5,095 acres) * Big Marias * Dripping Spring *Sears Poing


California

*
Afton Canyon The Mojave River is an intermittent river in the eastern San Bernardino Mountains and the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Most of its flow is underground, while its surface channels remain dry most of the time, ...
*
Carrizo Plain The Carrizo Plain ( Obispeño: ''tšɨłkukunɨtš'', "Place of the rabbits") is a large enclosed grassland plain, approximately long and up to across, in southeastern San Luis Obispo County, California, about northwest of Los Angeles. It con ...
* Conway Summit * Jawbone-Butterbredt Area of Critical Environmental Concern * Joaquin Rocks * North
Algodones Dunes The Algodones Dunes is a large sand dune field, or erg, located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of California, near the border with Arizona and the Mexican state of Baja California. The field is approximately long by wide and exte ...
* Pilot Knob * The Red Hills of Tuolumne County * Serpentine Area of Critical Environmental Concern *
Yuha Desert The Yuha Desert is a section of the Sonoran Desert located in the Imperial Valley of California; south of Interstate 8, west of El Centro, and north of the international border. Unique aspects of the Yuha Desert include the Oyster Shell Beds, De An ...


Colorado

*Adobe Badlands – *American Basin – * Anasazi Culture – *Arkansas Canyonlands – * Atwell Gulch – *Badger Wash – * Barger Gulch Heritage Area – *Beaver Creek – *Black's Gulch – * Blanca Wildlife Habitat Area – *Blue Hill – *Browns Canyon – *Bull Gulch – *Coal Draw – *Coal Oil Rim – * Cucharas Canyon – * Cumbres and Toltec Railroad – *Debris Hazard – * Deep Creek – *Deer Gulch – *Dillon Pinnacles – *Droney Gulch – * Duck Creek – *Dudley Bluffs – *East Douglas Creek – *Elephant Rocks – *Escalante Canyon – * Fairview – * Garden Park National Natural Landmark – * Glenwood Springs Debris Flow Hazard Zones – * Grand Hogback – * Grape Creek – *Gunnison Gravels – * Gunnison Sage Grouse – *
Gypsum Valley Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate Hydrate, dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and ...
– * Hardscrabble-East Eagle – *
Indian Creek Indian Creek may refer to the following: Communities * Indian Creek, Orange Walk District, Belize, a village in Belize * Indian Creek, Toledo, a village in Belize * Indian Creek, Florida, U.S. * Indian Creek, Illinois, U.S. * Indian Creek No. 7 Pr ...
– *Irish Canyon – * Juanita Arch – *Kremmling – * Kremling Ammonite Site Research Natural Area – *
Laramie River The Laramie River is a tributary of the North Platte River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 21, 2011 in the U.S. states of Colorado and Wyoming. ...
– *Los Mogotes – *Lower Colorado River – *Lower Greasewood Creek – *Lyons Gulch – * McCoy Fan Delta – * McElmo Rare Lizard and Snake – *Moosehead Mountain – * Mosquito Pass – *
Mount Logan Foothills Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, ...
– * Mt. Garfield – *Native Plant Community – * Needle Rock – * North Park Natural Area – *North Park Phaceila – *North Sand Hills – *Oil Spring Mountain – * Phantom Canyon – *Pyramid Rock – *Rajadero Canyon – * Raven Ridge – *Red Cloud Peak – *Rio Grande – *
Roan and Carr Creeks Roan may refer to: Animals *Roan (color), a type of animal coat color that shows intermixed white and darker-colored hairs *Roan (horse), a horse coat color pattern *Varnish roan, a leopard-complex horse coat color that looks similar to roan *Roan ...
– *Rough Canyon – *Ryan Gulch – *San Luis Hills/Flattop – * San Miguel River – * Sheep Creek Uplands – * Sinbad Valley – * Slumgullion National Natural Landmark – *South Beaver Creek – *South Cathedral Bluffs – * South Shale Ridge – *The Palisade – *Thompson Creek – *Trickle Mountain – * Troublesome Creek – * Unaweep Seep Research Natural Area – *West Antelope Creek – *White River Riparian – *Yanks Gulch/Upper Greasewood Creek –


Idaho

* Menan Buttes * Long-billed Curlew Habitat


Montana

(For more detailed descriptions of the following sites see) * Acid Shale-Pine Forest (endemic plant community, , Lewistown Office) * Ash Creek Divide (paleo, , Miles City Office) * Azure Cave (cave resources, bats; , Malta Office) * Battle Butte (cultural, , Miles City) * Bear Creek Flats (wildlife, oldgrowth pine, recreation, , Missoula Office) *
Beaverhead Rock Beaverhead Rock, also known as Point of Rocks, is a rock formation overlooking the Beaverhead River in Montana protected as Beaverhead Rock State Park. It is located on Montana State Highway 41, south of Twin Bridges, Madison County. It was ad ...
(historic petroglyphs, , Dillon Office) * Big Bend of the Milk River (archaeological resources , Malta) * Big Sheep Mountain (cultural, , Miles City) * Bitter Creek (vegetation, landscape; , Malta) * Black-footed ferret (wildlife, , Miles City) * Blue Lake (home to axoloti, rare form of tiger salamander; , Dillon) * Block Mountain (geological education, , Dillon) * Bridger Fossil (paleo, , Billings Office) * Bug Creek (paleo, , Miles City) * Castle Butte (cultural, , Billings) * Centennial Mountains (wildlife migration route, rare plants,
grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...
,
lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...
, & wolf; , Dillon) * Centennial Sandhills (sand dunes, sensitive plants; , Dillon) * Collar Gulch (
cutthroat trout The cutthroat trout is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus '' Oncorhynchus'', it is one of the Pacific tro ...
, , Lewistown) * Cow Creek (geological, scenic; , Lewistown) * East
Pryor Mountains The Pryor Mountains are a mountain range in Carbon and Big Horn counties of Montana, and Big Horn County, Wyoming. They are located on the Crow Indian Reservation and the Custer National Forest, and portions of them are on private land. They li ...
(wildlife, wild horses, paleo; , Billings) *
Elkhorn Mountains The Elkhorn Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern Montana, part of the Rocky Mountains and are roughly 300,000 acres (1200 km²) in size. It is an inactive volcanic mountain range with the highest point being Crow Peak at , right n ...
(historic & cultural sites, wildlife; , Butte Office) * Everson Creek (Stone Age archaeological site, , Dillon) * Finger Buttes (scenic, , Miles City) * Four Dances (cultural, scenic,
peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (Bird of prey, raptor) in the family (biology), family Falco ...
habitat; , Billings) * Hell Creek (paleo, , Miles City) * Hoe (cultural, , Miles City) * Howrey Island (wildlife, , Miles City) * Humbug Spires (scenic, wildlife, vegetation; , Butte) * Judith Mountains Scenic Area (scenic, wildlife, recreation; , Lewistown) * Jordan Bison Kill (cultural, , Miles City Office) * Kevin Rim (wildlife, cultural, recreation; , Great Falls Office) * Meeteetse Spires (rare plants, scenery; , Billings) * Mountain Plover (wildlife, vegetation; , Malta) * Muddy Creek/Big Sheep Creek (scenic, cultural; , Dillon) * Petroglyph Canyon (cultural, , Billings) * Piping Plover (wildlife, , Miles City) * Pompeys Pillar (historic, cultural, recreation; , Billings) * Powder River Depot (cultural, , Miles City) * Prairie Dog Towns, (
black-footed ferret The black-footed ferret (''Mustela nigripes''), also known as the American polecatHeptner, V. G. (Vladimir Georgievich); Nasimovich, A. A; Bannikov, Andrei Grigorovich; Hoffmann, Robert S. (2001)''Mammals of the Soviet Union''Volume: v. 2, pt. 1 ...
reintroduction site, , Malta) * Rattler Gulch Limestone Cliffs (scenic, , Missoula office. See
Garnet Range The Garnet Range, highest point Old Baldy Mountain, elevation , is a mountain range northeast of Drummond, Montana in Powell County, Montana. A popular historic site, Garnet Ghost Town, is in the Garnet Range. Situated on Bureau of Land Manageme ...
for description) * Reynolds Battlefield (cultural, , Miles City) * Ringing Rocks (unique geology, , Butte Office) * Sand Arroyo (paleo, , Miles City) * Seline (cultural, , Miles City) * Sleeping Giant (recreation, wildlife, scenic; , Butte Office) * Smoky Butte (geology, recreation; , Miles City) * Square Butte (cultural, scenic, geologic; , Lewistown) * Squaw Rock (wildlife, scenic, recreation; , Missoula) *
Sweetgrass Hills The Sweet Grass Hills (Blackfoot: ''kátoyissiksi'', Cheyenne: ''vé'ho'ôhtsévóse'', Salish: ''ččaɫalqn '', "three peaks") are a small group of low mountains rising more than 3,000 feet above the surrounding plains southwest of Whitlash, Mon ...
(Cultural, wildlife, recreation; , Great Falls) * Stark Site (cultural, , Billings) * Virginia City, Montana Historic District (historic, , Dillon) * Weatherman Draw (cultural, , Billings)


Nevada

*Ash Meadows *Beaver Dam Slope *Condor Canyon *Ivanpah *Mormon Mesa *Piute/Eldorado *Rainbow Gardens *River Mountains


New Mexico

*Sombrillo * La CienegaCommunity Celebrates Expansion of La Cienega ACEC
, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Press Release dated 2007-08-23, accessed 2008-07-06.


*Florida Mountains *Sacramento Escarpment *Three Rivers Petroglyph *Alamo Hueco Mountains *Bear Creek *Blue Spring *Pecos River Canyon Complex *Big Hatchet Mountains *Cowboy Spring *Granite Gap *Guadalupe Canyon *Chosa Draw *Cookes Range *Gila Lower Box *Gila Middle Box *Alkali Lakes *Apache Box *Central Peloncillo Mountains *Uvas Valley *Black Grama *Cornudas Mountain *Wind Mountain *Alamo Mountain


Oregon

* Wassen Creek (Natural systems and botanical values, , Coos Bay Office) * North Spit (Botanical, wildlife, and cultural values, , Coos Bay Office) * North Fork Coquille River (Natural systems; botanical fish values, , Coos Bay Office) * Tioga Creek (Natural systems, , Coos Bay Office) * Cherry Creek (Natural systems and botanical values, , Coos Bay Office) * China Wall (Natural systems; botanical and cultural values, , Coos Bay Office) * Upper Rock Creek (Natural systems and botanical values, , Coos Bay Office) * New River (Botanical, wildlife, fish and cultural values, , Coos Bay Office) * North Fork Hunter Creek (Natural systems; botanical and cultural values, , Coos Bay Office) * Hunter Creek Bog (Natural systems and botanical values, , Coos Bay Office) * North Fork Chetco River (Natural systems; and botanical, fish, and cultural values , Coos Bay Office) *
Upper and Lower Table Rock Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock are two prominent volcanic plateaus located just north of the Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon, U.S. Created by an andesitic lava flow approximately seven million years ago and shaped by erosion, they ...


Utah

Draft Oil Shale and Tar Sands Resource Management Plan Amendments to Address Land Use Allocations in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Volume 1
, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, dated December 2007, accessed 2008-04-22.
* Copper Globe (historic, , Vernal office) * Dark Canyon (59,755 acres, Monticello office) * I-70 Scenic ACEC (scenic, , Price office) * Lears Canyon (habitat, , Vernal office) * Lower Green River (scenic, habitat, , Vernal office) * Nine Mile Canyon (scenic, cultural, , Vernal office) * Pariette Wetlands (habitat, , Vernal office) * San Rafael Canyon (scenic, , Price office) * San Rafael Reef (scenic, , Price office) * Scenic Highway Corridor (scenic, , Monticello office) * Sid's Mountain (scenic, , Price office) * Temple Mountain (historic, , Price office) * Bonneville Salt Flats ((convert30,203))


Wyoming

* Greater Red Creek (175240 acres) * Greater Sand Dunes (41644 acres) * Natural Corrals Archeological Site (1116 acres) * Pine Springs (6055 acres) * Special Status Plant Species (1009 acres) * White Mountain Petroglyphs (21.7 acres)


See also

*
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
**
Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...
***
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...


References

{{reflist, 2


External links


Massachusetts state ACES program
United States Department of the Interior Protected areas of the United States Nature conservation in the United States 1976 in the environment 1976 in the United States