New Mexico’s federal delegation and tribal officials on Wednesday accused the Trump administration of rushing the process to reverse a federal ban on oil and gas drilling around Chaco Culture National Historical Park by only allowing a week for limited public comment.
The Trump administration, for the last year, has floated a proposal to reverse a Biden-era order that issued a 20-year ban on oil and gas development on federal lands within 10 miles of the site, which holds paramount spiritual and cultural significance for numerous tribes and pueblos.
On Monday, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management posted an announcement seeking online public comment on the proposed reversal during a seven-day “scoping period” for an environmental review. The public comment period concludes on April 7, meaning it occurs during the Easter, Passover and several traditional holidays for Pueblos.
All five members of New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation, who reintroduced legislation last April to protect Chaco Canyon, on Wednesday released statements criticizing the efforts to reverse the protections and the shortened comment period.
“Chaco Canyon is a living cultural landscape that holds deep historical meaning and is a sacred space for many of our New Mexico Tribes,” U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, who serves as ranking member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement. “It is not just one more place to drill. The disrespect shown by the Trump administration toward New Mexicans seems to know no bounds.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján said it was “inadequate and disgraceful” to allow seven days of public comment “on the fate of a 1,000-year-old sacred site.”
New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard, who issued in 2023 a 20-year ban of oil and gas activity on more than 72,000 acres of state trust lands within 10 miles of Chaco, also called the Trump administration’s plan to reopen oil and gas development in the area a “disastrous plan” and urged more for adequate public comment.
“Giving only seven days for communities to respond, with no public meetings planned, is a slap in the face to the people who have called this place home long before there ever was a United States government,” Garcia Richard said.
Acoma Pueblo Gov. Charles Riley told Source NM the requirements to submit public comment through an online portal also presents a “substantial barrier” and called on the federal government to expand public comments to include mail or in-person comments.
“Too many of our community members and elders have inconsistent or unreliable internet access,” Riley said in a phone call. “This approach basically excludes voices that should be included.”
The All Pueblo Council of Governors said Wednesday the body was “dismayed” to learn of the federal effort to unwind the protections.
“Chaco Canyon will always be revered and respected as a sacred place by Pueblo people,” Chairman Joey Sanchez (Santa Ana) said in a statement. “We will use our collective voice to continue the fight.”
