was even before the BLM closed the Rice Valley Dunes Off-Highway Recreation Area part
of the Northern and Eastern Colorado Desert Coordinated Management Plan (NECO),
partly because of a lack of use. As with much of the area, local mining activities date back to
the late 1800s. Some of these abandoned mines in the local mountains likely provide cavity
habitat for bat species.
Other than the development in the northern part of the valley and ephemeral domestic
sheep grazing, today the use of Rice Valley by humans appears to be light. Much of the
valley is now contained within the Rice Valley Wilderness Area but, according to the BLM,
the valley presents few recreational opportunities other than spring season wildflower
viewing because of the lack of water, sparse vegetation, and mostly level topography (BLM,