Faded signage for the Jawbone-Butterbredt ACEC in the Mojave Desert
Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) is a conservation ecology program in the Western United States, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (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 habitats, cultural and archeological 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.[1]
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.
^BLM Manual 1613, Areas of Critical Environmental Concern, section 1613.1.11
^ a b"Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) - Designated".
^Arizona Strip Proposed Plan/FEIS, 2007. Chapter 3: Affected Environment, Areas of Critical Concern. Bureau of Land Management. [1] (Accessed 2012-01-30)
^"Yuma Field Office Record of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan". Retrieved August 20, 2023.
^ a b cYuma Rod eplanning.blm.gov
^"Carrizo Plain". www.blm.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k lLake Cahuilla subregion blm.gov
^"Joaquin Rocks". www.blm.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^"Red Hills ACEC, Mother Lode Field Office, Bureau of Land Management California". Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved June 26, 2010. . accessed 2010-06-22.
^"Serprentine". www.blm.gov. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
^"Areas of Critical Environmental Concern". United States. Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
^Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas. "ACEC Status Report". Retrieved January 1, 2012.
^Northern Plains Conservation Network. "Bitter Creek/Grasslands National Park". Archived from the original on January 29, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
^The Conservation Fund. "Saving Montana's Meeteetse Spires". Archived from the original on November 21, 2011. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
^Community Celebrates Expansion of La Cienega ACEC Archived September 22, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Press Release dated 2007-08-23, accessed 2008-07-06.
^"ACEC Existing - Coos Bay Oregon/Washington BLM". blm.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
^"Welcome to the Table Rocks Oregon/Washington BLM". blm.gov. Retrieved April 15, 2016.
^ a bDraft 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 Archived May 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, dated December 2007, accessed 2008-04-22.
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