Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC)As BLM field offices revise land use plans for at least 9.5 million acres of public lands in Utah over the next three years, they will consider establishing Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) for locations where extra care and attention is needed to protect important historic, cultural, scenic, wildlife, and other resources. ACECs are designations that highlight areas where special management attention is needed to protect and prevent irreparable damage to unique natural values or to protect human life and safety from natural hazards. BLM establishes special management measures for these areas through land use planning. This site is a brief glance at what ACECs are currently doing in Utah, and a overview of what BLM-Utah is doing to consider more special places for ACEC designation. Relevance and Importance CriteriaNominations for ACECs must stand the test for relevance and importance before they are evaluated for ACEC designation. The following criteria are used to determine if nominations will be considered. Relevance An area meets the relevance criteria if it contains one or more of the following: - A significant historic, cultural, or scenic value (including but not limited to rare or sensitive archeological resources and religious or cultural resources important to native Americans).
- A fish and wildlife resource (including but not limited to habitat for endangered, sensitive, or threatened species, or habitat essential for maintaining species diversity).
- A natural process or system (including but not limited to endangered, sensitive, or threatened plant species; rare, endemic, or relic plants or plant communities which are terrestrial, aquatic, or riparian; or rare geological features).
- Natural hazards (including but not limited to areas of avalanche, dangerous flooding, landslides, unstable soils, seismic activity, or dangerous cliffs). A hazard caused by human action may meet the relevance criteria if it is determined through the RMP process that it has become part of a natural process.
Importance The value, resource, system, process, or hazard described in the relevance section must have substantial significance and values to meet the importance criteria. This generally means that the value, resource, system, process, or hazard is characterized by one or more of the following: - Has more than locally significant qualities which give it special worth, consequence, meaning, distinctiveness, or cause for concern, especially compared to any similar resource.
- Has qualities or circumstances that make it fragile, sensitive, rare, irreplaceable, exemplary, unique, endangered, threatened, or vulnerable to adverse change.
- Has been recognized as warranting protection in order to satisfy national priority concerns or to carry out the mandates of FLPMA.
- Has qualities that warrant highlighting in order to satisfy public or management concerns about safety and public welfare.
- Poses a significant threat to human life and safety or to property.
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Vernal ACECsName | Acres | Values | | 55,700 | Endangered species, cultural and historic, scenic, riparian | | 1,400 | Relict vegetation | | 7,900 | Endangered species, scenic | | 50,600 | Cultural, endangered species | | 11,600 | Unique biological, riparian, endangered species | | 24,600 | Erosion, watershed | | 25,800 | Cultural and paleontological, relict vegetation |
Pariette Wetlands
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