The 264 million acres of BLM-managed public lands represent a priceless legacy and a long-term investment for the American people. Prized originally for their commodity value, the public lands today offer much more: unparalleled recreation opportunities and, in an increasingly crowded West, one of the last guarantees of open space, a signature element of this region where the majority of public lands are located.

In June 2000, the BLM responded to growing concern over the loss of open space by creating the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS). The NLCS brings into a single system some of the BLM's premier designations. By putting these lands into an organized system, the BLM hopes to increase public awareness of these areas' scientific, cultural, educational, ecological and other values. The NLCS consists of the following:

• National Conservation Areas
• National Monuments
• Wilderness Areas
• Wilderness Study Areas
• Wild and Scenic Rivers; and
• National Historic and Scenic Trails

While the NLCS is new, the idea of managing special BLM lands for conservation is not. Congress designated the California's King Range National Conservation Area (NCA) in 1970, and the Steese NCA in Alaska is over twenty years old. In 1996, the BLM was entrusted with management responsibility for its first National Monument with designation of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. Since then, the agency's role in managing ecologically significant areas has grown significantly: the BLM now manages 14 National Conservation Areas and 15 National Monuments.

All units in the NLCS comprise lands that were already under Federal management. In addition, the NLCS does not create any new legal protections. Although the BLM is continuing to manage the units at the local level, the NLCS provides overall guidance and direction for the system. In developing management plans for NLCS lands, the BLM is working with local residents, particularly with regard to amenities such as food services and lodging, which will be located in communities adjacent to NLCS lands.

The BLM's management of all public lands, including those in the NLCS, is guided by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), signed 25 years ago. This landmark statute has provided for multiple use of the public lands and given the BLM important flexibility in managing the land to meet the changing — and growing — demands of the region. The five fastest-growing States are all in the West, and over 20 million people now live within 25 miles of BLM-managed public lands.

Today, FLPMA enables the BLM to manage the public lands not only for their commodity value, but also for their recreational opportunities and environmental qualities, such as open space. The mix of permitted uses depends on an area's resources; some BLM land is managed primarily for energy production, for example, and some for the protection of specific threatened or endangered species. FLPMA also ensures that many of BLM's traditional activities, such as grazing and hunting, will continue on lands within the NLCS, provided these activities are consistent with the overall purpose of the area.

In a crowded West, NLCS lands are special. They offer havens of solitude and a reminder of the West as it originally was. The BLM is proud to be stewards of these unique places.

With over 800 units in the NLCS, it is not possible to describe them all. Summarized below, however, are a few of the areas in the System.

• National Conservation Areas
• National Monuments
• Wild and Scenic Rivers
• National Scenic and Historical Trails
• Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas
• Facts and Figures

National Conservation Areas
(dates of congressional designation appear in parentheses)
View map of National Conservation Areas in the NLCS

Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails
(December 21, 2000)
This area includes nearly 800,000 acres in northwestern Nevada and protects wagon ruts, historic inscriptions, and a wilderness landscape largely unchanged from when pioneers moved westward in the 1800s.

California Desert (October 21, 1976)
The 10.6 million acres of this NCA feature vast desert areas with myriad wildlife and recreational opportunities.

Colorado Canyons (October 24, 2000)
From saltbush desert to the spectacular canyons of the Black Ridge Wilderness, this diverse area in west-central Colorado encompasses over 122,000 acres, including more than 75,000 acres of wilderness.

El Malpais (December 31, 1987)
These 226,000 acres of rugged lava flows in west-central New Mexico display some of the Nation's most significant geological, cultural, scenic, scientific, and wilderness resources.

Gila Box Riparian (November 28, 1990)
This 22,000-acre desert oasis contains cliff dwellings, historic homesteads, Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, and more than 200 species of birds in southeastern Arizona.

Gunnison Gorge (October 21, 1999)
A variety of natural and geologic features and unsurpassed recreational opportunities are on display in western Colorado's Gunnison Gorge, a 57,725-acre area.
This unit supports a diverse range of uses such as whitewater rafting, big-game hunting, and domestic livestock grazing.

King Range (October 21, 1970)
West of Arcata, 35 miles of remote coastline known as California's Lost Coast comprise the 57,000-acre King Range, the nation's first NCA.

Las Cienegas (December 6, 2000)
This area's 42,000 acres of desert grasslands and rolling oak-studded hills in south-central Arizona are home to a great diversity of plant and animal life, including several threatened or endangered species.

Red Rock Canyon (November 16, 1990)
This 197,000-acre area outside of Las Vegas boasts unique geologic features, plants, and animals that represent some of the best examples of the Mojave Desert. The area offers spectacular climbing, and hiking opportunities.

San Pedro Riparian (November 18, 1988)
This 56,500-acre area in southeastern Arizona supports over 350 species of birds, 80 species of mammals, and 40 species of amphibians and reptiles.

Snake River Birds of Prey (August 4, 1993)
Home to the largest concentration of nesting raptors in North America, this 485,000-acre area in southwestern Idaho provides a complete and stable ecosystem where both predators and prey occur in extraordinary numbers.

Steens Mountain (October 30, 2000)
Officially called the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area, its 425,500 acres in southeastern Oregon include volcanic uplifts, glacier-carved gorges, wild rivers, and diverse plant and animal species.

Steese (December 2, 1980)
This 1.2-million-acre area in east-central Alaska contains a Wild and Scenic River, crucial caribou calving grounds, and Dall sheep habitat.

Headwaters Forest Reserve (March 1, 1999)
These 7,400 acres in northern California, co-managed with the State of California, protect old-growth redwood stands that provide habitat for threatened species such as the marbled murrelet, a seabird, and coho salmon.

National Monuments
(dates of presidential proclamation appear in parentheses)
View map of National Monuments in the NLCS

Agua Fria (January 11, 2000)
An hour north of Phoenix, Agua Fria's 71,000 acres host one of the most significant systems of late prehistoric sites in the American Southwest.

California Coastal (January 11, 2000)
This National Monument includes all the islands, rocks, and pinnacles off the 840-mile California coast. These areas provide essential habitat for an estimated 200,000 breeding seabirds.

Canyons of the Ancients (June 9, 2000)
Located in southwestern Colorado, this 163,000-acre area contains the richest known concentration of archaeological sites in the United States.

Carrizo Plain (January 17, 2001)
Remnant of a once-vast grassland astride the San Andreas Fault zone, this unit's 204,000 acres in central California are a critical refuge for several endangered and threatened animal and plant species.

Cascade-Siskiyou (June 9, 2000)
The convergence of geologically young and old mountain ranges gives this 53,000-acre Monument in south-central Oregon an extraordinary degree of biological diversity.

Craters of the Moon (November 9, 2000)
The Great Rift, a 62-mile crack in the Earth's crust, is the centerpiece of this 272,000-acre area on Idaho's Snake River Plain. This remarkably preserved volcanic landscape contains an array of exceptional features, including cinder cones, lava tubes, and vast lava fields.

Grand Canyon-Parashant (January 11, 2000)
This 808,000-acre unit contains outstanding geological and paleontological features in northwestern Arizona.

Grand Staircase-Escalante (September 19, 1996)
Labyrinthine red rock canyons, high plateaus, and dramatic cliffs and terraces make up this stunning 1.9-million-acre area in southern Utah.

Ironwood Forest (June 9, 2000)
This 129,000-acre area protects an unique ironwood forest and a wide array of bird and animal life in southern Arizona.

Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks (January 17, 2001)
This area in northern New Mexico protects over 4,000 acres of cone-shaped rock formations resulting from volcanic eruptions and erosion that first built up and then wore down this landscape.

Pompeys Pillar (January 17, 2001)
William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition carved his name on this sandstone butte overlooking the Yellowstone River, adding to a rich record of historic inscriptions now protected as a 51-acre area in central Montana.

Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains (October 24, 2000)
This 86,500-acre, congressionally designated National Monument in southern California hosts over 500 plant and animal species, including the Federally listed Peninsular bighorn sheep.

Sonoran Desert (January 17, 2001)
Wide valleys separated by rugged mountain ranges offer dense forests of saguaro cactus — excellent habitat for a wide range of wildlife species — in this 409,000-acre area in southwestern Arizona.

Upper Missouri River Breaks (January 17, 2001)
The breathtaking limestone bluffs along this 149-mile, 377,000-acre stretch of Missouri River in central Montana remain almost exactly the same as when Lewis and Clark described them in their expedition journals.

Vermilion Cliffs (November 9, 2000)
An outstanding assemblage of deep, narrow canyons makes the 280,000 acres in this northern Arizona Monument ideal for hiking and exploring.

Wild and Scenic Rivers
View map of Wild and Scenic Rivers in the NLCS

	The NLCS includes 36 Wild and Scenic Rivers accounting for a total of over 2,000 miles. These Rivers, in four Western States and Alaska, offer unparalleled opportunities for recreation.

National Scenic and Historic Trails
View map of National Scenic and Historic Trails in the NLCS

Nine Historic Trails — including those followed by Lewis and Clark and pioneers heading to Mormon Country — commemorate the nation's cultural heritage, while the Continental Divide and Pacific Crest Scenic Trails offer 641 miles of some of the country's most spectacular mountain settings.

Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas
View map of Wilderness and Wilderness Study Areas in the NLCS

The NLCS includes 161 Wilderness Areas, totaling more than 6 million acres, and over 600 Wilderness Study Areas --- units under interim management while their wilderness potential is reviewed --- totaling just under 18 million acres.

Facts and Figures

NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREAS (17)
		Date	Designation	BLM Acreage
ALASKA	Steese	12/80	Legislation	1,194,923
	White Mountains National Recreation Area	12/80	Legislation	998,772
ARIZONA	Gila Box Riparian	11/90	Legislation	22,047
	Las Cienegas	12/00	Legislation	41,960
	San Pedro Riparian	11/88	Legislation	56,400
CALIFORNIA	California Desert Conservation Area	10/76	Legislation	10,671,080
	Headwaters Forest Reserve	03/99	Legislation	7,400
	King Range	10/70	Legislation	57,288
COLORADO	Colorado Canyons	10/00	Legislation	122,182
	Gunnison Gorge	10/99	Legislation	57,725
IDAHO	Snake River Birds of Prey	08/93	Legislation	483,074
NEVADA	Black Rock Desert-High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trail	12/00	Legislation	797,039
	Red Rock Canyon	11/90	Legislation	196,890
	Sloan Canyon	12/02	Legislation	48,438
NEW MEXICO	El Malpais	12/87	Legislation	227,100
OREGON	Steens Mountain Cooperative Management Protection Area	10/00	Legislation	425,550
	Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area	03/80	Legislation	100
	Total			15,407,968
NATIONAL MONUMENTS (15)
		Date	Designation	BLM Acreage
ARIZONA	Agua Fria	01/00	Proclamation	71,100
	Grand Canyon-Parashant	01/00	Proclamation	807,881
	Ironwood Forest	06/00	Proclamation	129,022
	Sonoran Desert	01/01	Proclamation	486,603
	Vermilion Cliffs	11/00	Proclamation	280,324
CALIFORNIA	California Coastal	01/00	Proclamation	883
	Carrizo Plain	01/01	Proclamation	204,107
	Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains	10/00	Legislation	86,400
COLORADO	Canyons of the Ancients	06/00	Proclamation	163,892
IDAHO	Craters of the Moon	11/00	Proclamation	271,847
MONTANA	Pompeys Pillar	01/01	Proclamation	51
	Upper Missouri River Breaks	01/01	Proclamation	374,976
NEW MEXICO	Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks	01/01	Proclamation	4,114
OREGON	Cascade-Siskiyou	06/00	Proclamation	52,947
UTAH	Grand Staircase-Escalante	09/96	Proclamation	1,870,800
	Total			4,806,947

	Designation	No. Units	BLM Acreage
WILDERNESS AREAS	Legislation	161	6,515,287 acres (10 Western States)
WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS	Admin. Designation	604	15,566,656 acres (11 Western States and Alaska)
WILD & SCENIC RIVERS	Legislation	38	2,061 miles (4 Western States & Alaska)
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS	Legislation	10	4,563 miles
--California
-- El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
--Iditarod
--Lewis and Clark
--Mormon Pioneer
--Nez Perce
--Old Spanish
--Oregon
--Pony Express
--San Juan Bautista de Anza
NATIONAL SCENIC TRAILS	Legislation	2	640
--Continental Divide
--Pacific Crest

Last updated: 04/01/04

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