** Tribes and archaeologists partner to protect Chaco Canyon
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Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon | Jacqueline Poggi ([link removed])

Native American tribes are working with archaeologists to identify cultural sites ([link removed]) and resources on public lands surrounding New Mexico's Chaco Canyon. The landscape, the ancestral home of all pueblo villages sacred to tribes throughout the southwest, could be threatened by increased oil and gas development.

Acoma Pueblo and Zuni Pueblo have partnered ([link removed]) with Archaeology Southwest on studies of traditional cultural properties within a proposed 10-mile buffer zone surrounding Chaco Canyon, finding more than 4,000 sites, including some up to 5,000 years old.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the Bureau of Land Management has proceeded with a proposed land use plan that could lead to as many as 3,000 ([link removed]) oil and gas leases in the Greater Chaco region. The deadline for public comments passed last Friday, despite tribal governments and elected officials from New Mexico demanding an extension.

As the Trump administration moves forward with a plan to drill in the region, Acoma Pueblo Governor Brian Vallo notes ([link removed]) , "It’s so critical in this time, especially with the ongoing initiatives to further develop oil and gas in this area, that we create this narrative, that we produce the information that is so vital to federal processes. Our record, our voice needs to be written, it needs to be documented and needs to be utilized as a source of information as federal agencies and others consider development in this area."
Quick hits


** Trump administration to appeal Pendley's removal as acting BLM director, but not yet
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National Public Radio ([link removed])


** Pendley's dismissal threatens Trump's drilling agenda
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Outside Magazine ([link removed])


** National Park Service blocks access to sacred spring after Indigenous border wall protest
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Arizona Public Media ([link removed])


** Trump administration in all-out push to build border wall through protected areas
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Washington Post ([link removed])


** It's finally Fat Bear Week at Alaska's Katmai National Park
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Anchorage Daily News ([link removed])


** Federal court backs decision to block Arch and Peabody joint coal venture in Powder River Basin
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Casper Star-Tribune ([link removed]) | Forbes ([link removed]) | Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** Survey of lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Park shows need for protection from drilling
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | New Mexico Political Report ([link removed])


** Opinion: An action plan to save nature—now
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
Keeping him in any management position at the Bureau only underscores this administration's contempt for the law and the balanced management of all Americans' public lands.”
—Tracy Stone-Manning, National Wildlife Federation, National Public Radio ([link removed])
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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At more than a mile above sea level, Wall Canyon Wilderness offers cool mornings & bright fall colors this time of year #Nevada ([link removed])

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