CHACO CANYON - World heritage site Chaco Canyon is going to receive additional protections to protect the ruins and preserve the history of Chaco. The site, approximately MILES from Grants, is home to vast indigenous American culture.
Daughter of Laguna, US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has been working with President Joe Biden to secure protection for Chaco, including a 10-mile border around Chaco where oil drilling and other natural resource extraction will be denied for the next 20-years.
Haaland’s work was met with resistance when she went to tour the victory at Chaco on June 11. Local landowners and stakeholders blocked access to the road leading to Chaco, angry that their concerns were not being heard and that the Biden Administration did not properly compensate locals, a charge the administration denies.
Protestors blocked access to the road, carried signs in opposition to the new protections, and “Go home” to the Laguna-born official. The Pueblo of Laguna is about 100 miles south of Chaco Canyon.
Backed by tribal leaders, locals protesting the Chaco decision say they feel ignored and like opportunities for their private land is going away. A group of locals had proposed ideas to the US Department do the Interior that were not in the final plan, but according to a study in the impacts of the new oil drilling moratorium at Chaco, the new rules will not prevent local landowners from doing whatever they please on their land as this rule applies only to land held by the federal government.
“This morning wasn’t ideal,” Haaland said during a press conference. “To see any road into our national parks blocked was heartbreaking because our public lands belong to all Americans.”
Haaland spoke about the need to protect sites like Chaco for the future, “We can disagree on policy, But we must be United in the protection of our children, our culture, our shared spaces.”
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren was not impressed by the protections on Chaco, saying, “The financial and economic losses
Courtesy Photo that are impacting many Navajo families as a result of the secretary’s recent land withdrawal are nothing to celebrate.” Nygren continued, “As leaders of the Navajo Nation, we support the Navajo allottees who oppose the withdrawal of these public lands.”
Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said that the government did not properly compensate locals around Chaco before making this decision.
The All Pueblo Council of Governor’s released a statement applauding the protections around Chaco.
“The New Mexico Indian Affairs Department joins the Governor in applauding the federal administration for imposing a 20-year ban on new oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park,” said Indian Affairs Department Secretary-Designate James R. Mountain. “Chaco Canyon remains a significant part of New Mexico’s sacred history for the tribes and our people. The threat to these sites by oil and gas extraction in and around Chaco Canyon must be met with actions like those taken by the President today to preserve the history and spirit of our tribal way of life.”
Governor Michele Lujan Grisham released a statement about the new protections for Chaco, writing, “President Biden, Secretary Haaland, and the Bureau of Land Management made history today by protecting the Greater Chaco Landscape. This decision speaks loud and clear: tribal voices must be involved, must be heard and must be valued. Thousands of archaeological sites too important to be put at risk by mining and drilling are now protected for generations to come.”