The Bureau of Land Management is considering removing protections from roughly 336,000 acres surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
The Bureau of Land Management is considering several options for opening up oil and mineral leases near Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a massive complex of Native American ruins and a sacred site in New Mexico.
In 2023, the agency withdrew roughly 336,000 acres surrounding the area from leasing for 20 years, explains Marni Rose McFall in Newsweek. Now, the agency could keep the protections in place, reduce the protected area to a 5-mile (instead of 10-mile) buffer, or remove the protections altogether.
The Chaco Culture park contains important archeological remains of the Puebloan civilization. "The broader landscape includes thousands of cultural sites, ancient roads, shrines and ceremonial locations that remain sacred to many Pueblo communities, the Navajo Nation and other Indigenous groups."
Read the full story: Chaco Canyon Drilling Plans: Oil Leases Near Tribal Site Could Be Sold Soon
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