Oil and gas development near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, one of the United States’ most culturally significant Native American sites, may advance following a proposal by the Trump administration to roll back federal protections in this area.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is reviewing a potential repeal or reduction of a 2023 mineral withdrawal that prohibited new oil and gas leasing on approximately 336,000 acres of federal land surrounding Chaco Canyon for 20 years.
Environmental Assessment Review
The BLM’s draft environmental assessment outlines three potential actions: maintaining the existing protections, reducing the protected zone from a 10-mile buffer to a five-mile buffer, or eliminating withdrawal altogether and reopening the land to fresh mineral leasing.
The BLM is currently accepting public comments on the draft assessment for the proposed revocation of the Public Lands Order, with the deadline looming.
Importance of the Chaco Culture Site
Chaco Culture National Historical Park, located in New Mexico’s northwest, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site housing significant archaeological remnants of the ancestral Puebloan civilization. Surrounding the park is a landscape containing numerous cultural sites, ancient roads, shrines, and ceremonial locations sacred to Pueblo communities, the Navajo Nation, and other Indigenous groups.
This proposal follows President Donald Trump’s decision to shrink the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in southern Utah. These actions reignited debates over conservation, public lands, and presidential authority.
Opposition to the Drilling Plan
The BLM’s proposal would reopen areas around Chaco Culture National Historical Park for potential oil and gas leasing. Earlier this year, the Interior Department proposed reversing Biden-era protections around Chaco Culture, planning to rescind Public Land Order 7923 which had restricted drilling and mining activity around the park.
The proposal has faced opposition, including from the All Pueblo Council Governors, representing New Mexico’s 20 sovereign Pueblo nations, along with others from Texas. Deb Haaland, who served as Secretary of the Interior during Biden’s administration and is running for Governor of New Mexico, expressed strong opposition.
Haaland contended that former President Donald Trump and Steve Pearce, Director of the BLM, intend to allow new mineral leasing and entry that could irreversibly damage the site, criticizing their apparent lack of respect for New Mexicans’ heritage.
Chaco preservation has been a long-standing issue for Haaland, who, during her time in Congress, collaborated with New Mexico’s congressional delegation on the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act.
Public and Official Responses
New Mexico Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat, made a strong public statement against the leasing plans, declaring, “Chaco Canyon is not for sale!” She emphasized the need for future generations to have these landscapes protected, aligning with Pueblo and Tribal leaders.
The National Parks Conservation Association also opposes the plan, calling on the public to support the protection of Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
The public has until Wednesday, July 29, to express their views. Comments can be submitted online. For more information on this topic, contact John Fitzpatrick and Gray R. Thomas at Newsweek.