Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum is considering reducing or completely revoking the Department’s Public Land Order No. 7923, which created a protection zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park (Chaco Canyon). The order, issued in June 2023, established a 20-year ban on new leasing for uranium and other minerals, including oil and gas, on federal lands within a critical 10-mile area surrounding Chaco Canyon. Chaco Canyon and the surrounding Greater Chaco Landscape have deep cultural, archaeological, and historical significance and are important to the ongoing cultural and spiritual practices of dozens of sovereign Pueblos and Tribal Nations throughout the Southwest. Revoking the 10-mile protection zone would be a devastating setback, reversing many years of hard work and contributions by Pueblos, and other Tribes across the country, New Mexico’s Congressional delegation, elected officials from across the State of New Mexico, and the many other stakeholders who understand the importance of this vital area and have worked to protect it from further devastation.
Act now to help protect this sacred landscape. Contact the Secretary of the Interior and your state and federal representatives to oppose actions to revoke the mineral withdrawal by submitting a comment letter in support of protecting Chaco Canyon and Greater Chaco Region from future oil and gas development. Submit your comment below!
In November of 2021, President Biden, and Interior Secretary Haaland announced the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) consideration of a 20-year withdrawal of federal lands and minerals, including new oil and gas leasing, in an especially critical 10 mile withdrawal area surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park (Chaco Canyon). Chaco Canyon and its surrounding landscape, known as the Greater Chaco Region, remains a sacred area important to the ongoing cultural practices of the Pueblos, Hopi, Navajo Nation, and other Indian Tribes throughout the Southwest. On January 6th, the Department formally began the withdrawal process by publishing a Federal Register Notice and on November 10, 2022, an environmental analysis (EA) was released. On June 2, 2023, after thorough and careful analysis, DOI announced the withdrawal by Public Land Order No. 7923 published in the Federal Register, effective June 7, 2023.
Centuries ago, the Greater Chaco Region—a portion of which is now designated as Chaco Culture National Historical Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site—was the center of incredible Indigenous achievements, resulting in vast great houses, kivas, rooms, and roads in the Four Corners region. The ancestors of the Pueblos and Tribes left a vast and sacred landscape rich in cultural resources, which is integral to the ongoing cultural practices of tribal members today. Many of these cultural resources are located within the 10-mile withdrawal area, which was protected by Public Land Order 7923 in 2023. Now, the Department of Interior is proposing to reverse these critical protections, which would once again open federally-managed lands in the region to industrial development. Upwards of 90 percent of the region is already leased for oil and gas drilling, which has caused negative impacts to communities and cultural resources. For this reason, the Pueblos and Tribes, along with other stakeholders, have prioritized protecting the federal lands in the10-mile area surrounding the Park from new oil and gas development.
For at least the past decade, Pueblos and Tribes throughout the Southwest have raised concerns about increased oil and gas development encroaching closer and closer to Chaco Canyon. As a result, the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, including Senator Martin Heinrich, Senator Ben Ray Luján, Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez, and Representative Melanie Stansbury as well as the National Congress of American Indians, representing hundreds of Tribes from across the country, the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG), representing the 20 Pueblo Indian Tribes of New Mexico and Texas, community members, conservation groups, and others have advocated for permanent protection of the Greater Chaco Region including the 10-mile withdrawal area.