Tell the Department of Interior to protect Chaco Canyon from greedy fossil fuel companies!

Chaco Canyon has been designated a World Heritage Site and features houses and ruins of Pueblo and Navajo communities that are over 1,000 years old. But fracking threatens to damage the precious stone buildings and iconic rock engravings that are culturally and spiritually important for Indigenous communities.

More than 90% of the available public lands in the Greater Chaco region have been leased for fracking. But it’s not too late. Please, sign your name and urge the DOI to protect Chaco Canyon from greedy oil and gas companies!

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Dear Secretary Haaland,

For too long, the Greater Chaco region has been ravaged by the oil and gas industry, putting Tribal communities at risk, undermining the cultural integrity of the landscape, and jeopardizing clean air and water.

Your efforts to champion Indigenous issues are admirable and I applaud the Department of the Interior’s move to protect Chaco Culture National Historical Park by issuing a 20-year mineral withdrawal within a 10-mile buffer. I encourage you to continue moving forward with the Honoring Chaco Initiative, a first of its kind effort to change the paradigm of public lands management in this sacred landscape and finally prioritize the health, economic and environmental justice, equity, and sustainability of the region.

While steps have been taken to protect certain areas of Greater Chaco from industrial exploitation, more needs to be done to truly safeguard the safety and well-being of this cultural landscape and surrounding communities.

Since 2014, over two million people have called on federal agencies to address the impacts of sacrifice zones in the Greater Chaco region and pause all oil and gas proposals. Groups have called for meaningful tribal and community consultation at every stage of decision-making; for the cumulative impacts of oil and gas development to be considered, analyzed and addressed; and for the advancement of environmental and economic justice.

Looking ahead, we call on you to ensure the Honoring Chaco Initiative continues to progress and advance the following core goals:

1. Stop permitting new extraction and phase out existing fossil fuel exploitation across the Greater Chaco Landscape.

2. Develop and implement Tribal co-management strategies for the region's public lands and resources.

3. Fully protect and restore the air quality, ground and surface waters, and healthy lands of the region.

4. Allocate resources to enable communities to achieve economic security and sustainability.

The Honoring Chaco Initiative is an opportunity for the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management to end the long legacy of broken promises and sacrifice zones, and to finally address environmental racism in the Greater Chaco region. I expect the Department of the Interior to fully follow through with its promises to safeguard and honor Greater Chaco.

Thank you,

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