Landscapes

Chacoan Landscape — Photo courtesy of Tom Vaughan

Fajada Butte. Photo courtesy of Tom Vaughan

Cultural Sites

Kin Klesto. Photo courtesy of Tom Vaughan

Casa Chiquita. Photo courtesy of Tom Vaughan

Chaco Canyon — Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Photo courtesy of Ecoflight

Pueblo Bonito Doorways — Doorways of Pueblo Bonito

Development in the Region

Well Pads near Chaco Canyon — Well pads within 15 miles of Chaco Canyon. Photo courtesy of EcoFlight.

Well pads outside Farmington, New Mexico. Photo courtesy of EcoFlight

Well Pads near Huerfano Mountain. Photo Courtesy of EcoFlight

Well Pad outside of Chaco Canyon. Photo Courtesy of EcoFlight

Flaring at a well site. Photo courtesy of EcoFlight

Pump jack near Pierre's — Pump jack near Pierre’s site, which is on the hill in the distance.

Videos

EcoFlight Overflight of Chaco Canyon

Energy development (oil & gas, coal, uranium) is intensive in the area surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park in Northwestern New Mexico. Chaco NHP is designated as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO and is one of the finest examples of Puebloan culture centers in the Southwestern United States (inhabited AD 850-1250). Our video shows the encroachment of oil & gas development on Chaco.

From Chaco Canyon to Chimney Rock: A Landscape Worth Protecting

Join the National Trust for Historic Preservation on an animated visit to the Chaco world, which spanned the Four Corners area of Colorado, Arizona, Utah and New Mexico and was inhabited by ancestral puebloan people from about 850-1250. You’ll have an aerial perspective on the breadth of Chaco sites, their connectivity on the landscape and threats that they face in the wake of energy development in the San Juan Basin.

Greater Chaco Galleries