The Biden administration has announced that it is forbidding new oil and gas leasing on federal land surrounding Chaco Canyon, a culturally significant Native American site in New Mexico. This move, which follows a pledge made by President Biden in 2021 to protect the area from drilling, will prevent new oil and gas leasing within a 10-mile radius of the canyon and Chaco Culture National Historical Park for 20 years. Existing oil and gas leases on the land and drilling on private property within the 10-mile area will not be affected. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet secretary, designed the plan in response to long-standing pleas by tribal groups and to underscore the administration’s commitment to Native American issues and public land conservation. The announcement, however, has been opposed by Republican lawmakers and New Mexico’s oil and gas sector. The Chaco Canyon park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was created in 1907 by President Theodore Roosevelt and contains numerous pre-Columbian ruins. The site was a hub of Pueblo culture between the ninth and 13th centuries, featuring multiple homes and holy places. Pueblo groups, as well as other Native groups, have been concerned about oil and gas projects threatening the park over the preceding decade. Although Congress has imposed various short-term drilling bans around the site, no long-term or permanent policy has been put in place to limit drilling around its edges.
