National Conservation Lands, formally known as the National Landscape Conservation System, is a collection of lands in 904 federally recognized areas considered to be the crown jewels of the American West.National Conservation Lands, Bureau of Land Management These lands represent 15% of the managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The BLM is the largest federal public land manager and is responsible for over 40% of all the federal public land in the nation. The other major federal public land managers include the US Forest Service (USFS), National Park Service (NPS), and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Over the years, the Bureau of Land Management has had to adjust its approach to public land management to fit the changing needs of the nation. The BLM historically has managed lands under its jurisdiction for extractive uses, such as mining, logging, grazing, and oil and gas production. In 1983, Congress acknowledged the value of watersheds, wildlife habitat, recreation, scenery, scientific exploration and other non-extractive uses with the designation of the first BLM-managed wilderness area—the Bear Trap Canyon unit of the Lee Metcalf Wilderness in Montana. In 1996, President Clinton underscored non-extractive priorities on BLM lands when he established the first national monument to be administered by the BLM—the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. With this and several similar designations, a new focus emerged that would become part of how the agency looks at the land it manages: the protection of special areas where conservation and restoration of the landscape and its biological or cultural resources is the overriding objective.
The Bureau of Land Management's National Landscape Conservation System, better known as the National Conservation Lands, was created in 2000 with the mission to "conserve, protect, and restore these nationally significant landscapes that have outstanding cultural, ecological, and scientific values for the benefit of current and future generations."National Landscape Conservation System , U.S. Bureau of Land Management accessed 5-12-15
There are eleven federal conservation designations for the units that make up the National Conservation Lands:
National Monument National Conservation Area Wilderness Area Wilderness Study Area National Wild and Scenic River National Scenic Trail National Historic Trail Cooperative Management and Protection Area Forest Reserve Outstanding Natural Area National Scenic Area
When the Conservation System was created in 2000 without Congressional authorization, there was no guarantee that the System would be permanent. The National Landscape Conservation System Act was signed into law in March 2009 as part of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009. The Act permanently unified the individual units as a public lands System, protecting the System in law so that it would no longer exist at the pleasure of each president. This marked the first new congressionally authorized public lands system in decades.
The act also added of new designations to the System, including a National Monument, three National Conservation Areas, Wilderness, Wild and Scenic Rivers and National Scenic Trails.
List of National Conservation Lands areas National monuments
As of January 2026, there are 31 sites totaling .
Monument State Established BLM/federal area Non-federal area Total area Agua Fria Arizona 2000 Avi Kwa Ame Nevada 2023 Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of Grand Canyon Arizona 2023 Basin and Range Nevada 2015 Bears Ears Utah 2016 Berryessa Snow Mountain California 2015 Browns Canyon Colorado 2015 California Coastal California 2000 Canyons of the Ancients Colorado 2000 Carrizo Plain California 2001 Cascade–Siskiyou Oregon 2000 Chuckwalla California 2025 Craters of the Moon Idaho 2000 Fort Ord California 2012 Gold Butte Nevada 2016 Grand Canyon-Parashant Arizona 2000 Grand Staircase–Escalante Utah 1996 Ironwood Forest Arizona 2000 Jurassic Utah 2019 Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks New Mexico 2001 Mojave Trails California 2016 Organ Mountains–Desert Peaks New Mexico 2014 Pompeys Pillar Montana 2001 Prehistoric Trackways New Mexico 2009 Rio Grande del Norte New Mexico 2013 San Juan Islands Washington 2013 Sand To Snow California 2016 Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains California 2000, 2009 Sonoran Desert Arizona 2001 Upper Missouri River Breaks Montana 2001 Vermilion Cliffs Arizona 2000
National conservation areas (NCAs) As of January 2026, there are 19 sites totaling .
Conservation Area State Established Federal area Non-federal area Total area Beaver Dam Wash Utah 2009 Black Rock Desert–High Rock Canyon Emigrant Trails Nevada 2000 Dominguez–Escalante Colorado 2009 El Malpais New Mexico 1987 Fort Stanton–Snowy River Cave New Mexico 2009 Gila Box Riparian Arizona 1990 Gunnison Gorge Colorado 1999 John Wesley Powell Utah 2019 King Range California 1970 Las Cienegas Arizona 2000 McInnis Canyons Colorado 2000 Numanaa Nobe Nevada 2022 Pistone Black Mouintains Nevada 2022 Red Cliffs Utah 2009 Red Rock Canyon Nevada 1990 San Pedro Riparian Arizona 1988 Sloan Canyon Nevada 2002 Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey Idaho 1993 Steese Alaska 1980
BLM wilderness areas
As of January 2026, there are 263 sites totaling . This number excludes wilderness associated with other agencies.