|
Native American tribes are working with archaeologists to identify cultural sites 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 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 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, "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."
|
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.”
