A proposal to remove federal protections around Southwest USA's Chaco Culture National Historical Park has drawn renewed opposition from Indigenous leaders, who say a sacred cultural landscape is again being opened to oil and gas development.
The Greater Chaco region in north-west New Mexico holds deep cultural and ceremonial significance for Pueblo, Hopi and Navajo peoples, with the park recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Introduced in 2023, the dispute centres on Public Land Order 7923 which withdrew 336,400 acres of federal land within 10 miles of the park from new oil and gas leasing for 20 years.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has now opened a seven-day public scoping period on a proposal to reverse the order, with comments due by April 7.
Indigenous leaders have raised concerns about the proposal, the short consultation period and the barriers it creates for Pueblo communities.
High Country News reported the comment window overlaps with Easter, Passover and several traditional Pueblo holidays.
Acoma Pueblo Governor, Charles Riley, said the online-only process risked shutting people out of the decision.
"Too many of our community members and elders have inconsistent or unreliable internet access," Mr Riley said.
"This approach basically excludes voices that should be included."
The All Pueblo Council of Governors also opposes the move, saying Chaco remains a living sacred place for Pueblo people rather than a site confined to park boundaries.
All Pueblo Council of Governors chairman, Joey Sanchez, of Santa Ana Pueblo said Pueblo communities would continue to resist the rollback.
"Chaco Canyon will always be revered and respected as a sacred place by Pueblo people," Mr Sanchez said.
"We will use our collective voice to continue the fight."
The broader concern is that cultural sites extend well beyond the national park boundary.
Archaeology Southwest said the Greater Chaco landscape includes thousands of archaeological and cultural sites, including roads, shrines and great houses, and that only 15 to 20 per cent of the wider area has been surveyed.
The group said as many as 12,000 cultural sites and traditional cultural places may lie within the five-to-10-mile zone which could again be exposed to drilling.
New Mexico Land Commissioner, Stephanie Garcia Richard, who in 2023 imposed a 20-year ban on oil and gas activity across more than 72,000 acres of state trust land within 10 miles of Chaco, also criticised the federal proposal while calling for a longer consultation process.
She said the seven day comment period and lack of public meetings failed to respect communities with longstanding ties to the area.
"Giving only seven days for communities to respond, with no public meetings planned, is a slap in the face to the people who have called this place home long before there ever was a United States government," Ms Garcia Richard said.
Advocacy groups including Archaeology Southwest and the Western Environmental Law Center (WELC) argue the rushed process disregards years of tribal consultation and public input.
"This is an absurd, destructive, and all too familiar story and we need to speak against it now," WELC said.
Archaeology Southwest added the original withdrawal followed 150 days of public comment, eight public meetings and 18 months of consideration.
More to come.
