(April 21, 2022)—In November 2021, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland announced the withdrawal of 351,000 acres of Federal surface land from oil-gas development in a 10-mile zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
As our supporters know, we at Archaeology Southwest have advocated for the establishment of the 10-mile protection zone around Chaco for many years. We applaud this very important decision.
As part of the withdrawal process, a 90-day review and comment period began in early January 2022. This period ends on May 6.
Please take a few moments and provide written comments to Secretary Haaland and the BLM to get this land withdrawal in place!
We have prepared a two-page primer on the 10-mile zone and why it matters so much. Our partners at Nuestra Tierra have prepared a Chaco 10-mile Myths and Facts sheet. These documents may help you draft your comments.
There are several ways to submit comments.
Comment at our Greater Chaco Coalition portal at:
Or, written comments can be emailed to the following address:
BLM_NM_FM_CCNHP_Area_Withdrawal_Comments@blm.gov
Finally, hard copy comment letters can be mailed to:
Sarah Scott
Bureau of Land Management
Farmington Field Office
6251 College Blvd., Suite A
Farmington, NM 87402
Thanks, everyone, for your support!
One thought on “Protect Chaco Comment Deadline Is May 6”
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Chaco is an extremely important and beautiful place. It is sacred to Native Americans and to those of us who appreciate and love these ancient places. I have spent many wonderful hours there over the past 40 years and it means a lot to me. It should be preserved for the generations to come as there is much more to learn about the peoples who built these marvelous structures. It belongs to the people, not just of the US, but to all the world.