Tell the Department of Interior to protect Chaco Canyon from fossil fuel destruction

Chaco Canyon preserves the homes and ruins of the Indigenous Pueblo and Navajo peoples. These lands include rock engravings, ancient roads, and precious stone buildings that are over 1,000 years old. But without your help, fracking could DESTROY Chaco Canyon’s historical and cultural sites!

Big Polluters have already claimed 91% of the public lands in the Greater Chaco Canyon region. But greedy corporations want even more, despite the cost to local communities and our shared public lands.

Comments

To: Secretary Deb Haaland,
CC: Tracy Stone-Manning 
Melanie Barnes,

I am writing out of concern for the Greater Chaco region. The oil and gas industry must be held accountable for the impacts of 40,000+ existing oil and gas wells in the region, and the legacy of pollution, including abandoned, orphaned, and non-producing wells, must be addressed and fully remediated. It is critical that the Department of Interior protect this living and ancient cultural landscape and move forward the following through the Honor Chaco Initiative:

1. The Department of Interior must implement a comprehensive landscape-level planning process that includes the proposed 10-mile mineral withdrawal as well as finally analyzing the cumulative impacts of oil and gas activities on public health, local quality of life, cultural resources, water resources, air quality, environmental and social justice issues, and climate change.

2. The BLM must pause all leasing and permitting until land management decisions are able to center on the protection of the integrity of the cultural landscape, which includes tribally led ethnographic studies and meaningful Tribal consultation, including free, prior, and informed consent, extended to traditional Navajo Chapters, the Navajo Nation, the All Pueblo Council of Governors, and all Tribes who trace lineage to these lands or to Chaco culture.

3. Community protections must be put in place to assure quality of life beyond the 10-mile buffer. Just transition efforts and community infrastructure investments must be funded to reconcile the impacts of sacrifice zones and environmental racism.

The Greater Chaco Landscape extends far beyond the boundaries of the National Park and holds environmental, cultural, and historical significance that must be safeguarded from further destruction. I urge you to fully protect the Greater Chaco Region.

Sincerely,

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