Protecting the Greater Chaco Landscape: Threats from Oil and Gas

Banner image: Flares outside of Bloomfield. Courtesy of EcoFlight.

New Mexico Delegation Urges Continued Deferral of Leasing in Protection Zone

(September 7, 2017)—Yesterday, Senators Udall and Heinrich and Representative Lujan sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Zinke calling on the department to uphold its agreement to maintain a 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park within which oil and gas leasing would be deferred. Preservation Archaeologist Paul F. Reed, who leads Archaeology Southwest’s participation in the Coalition to Protect Greater Chaco, issued this statement:

“We are grateful that the New Mexico Delegation is continuing to urge BLM and BIA to defer leasing within the 10-mile cultural protection zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Despite nearly 100 years of oil-gas development, this zone remains relatively pristine and we hope to continue to see protection for the irreplaceable archaeological and cultural sites so close to the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Chaco Canyon.”

Read the New Mexico Delegation’s letter here.

Read more about our work on the Coalition here.

About Archaeology Southwest

Archaeology Southwest is a private 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Tucson, Arizona, that explores and protects the places of our past across the American Southwest and Mexican Northwest. For three decades, Archaeology Southwest has fostered meaningful connections to the past and respectfully safeguarded its irreplaceable resources. Learn more at www.archaeologysouthwest.org.

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