Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

A plan to half mineral leases around Chaco Canyon stirs debate

The Bureau of Land Management will extend the public comment period on a proposal to close federal lands to new mineral leases around Chaco Canyon National Historical Park.

The agency’s announcement comes a month after Navajo residents who lease property to oil and gas companies asked the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals to intervene. They want the judges to reaffirm a lower court’s dismissal of a case filed by environmental groups trying to stop fracking near Chaco Canyon.

“I don’t think the lawsuit had any merit at all,” said Troy A. Eid of Greenberg Traurig LLP, who represents the tribe members, “This is not an area where someone is proposing resource development in a new fashion or new place . This is an area where the principal source of economic benefit to probably more than 20,000 families comes from oil and gas.”

Navajo allotment land owners in the region have long worked with the federal government and oil and gas companies to lease mineral rights, creating a source of income for them and their families.

The Biden Administration has proposed to hold oil and gas leases for 20 years on federal lands inside a 10-mile radius around the canyon in northeastern New Mexico. Allottees say withdrawing the area for mineral leases would take away their income, while environmentalists see the move as a step in the right direction to ending fracking for oil and gas.

The Navajo Nation Resources and Development Committee has requested additional field hearings from Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to hear directly from Navajo allottees.

“The Biden Administration and Interior Department bypassed previous requests to Congress for field hearings and for federal officials to hear directly from our Navajo families residing in the Chaco Canyon region,” said Rickie Nez chairperson of the committee.

The Great Kiva of Chetro Ketl, a Chocoan complex, is in the Chaco Culture Canyon National Historic Park.

“The Navajo Nation continues to advocate for a 5-mile buffer within and around this sacred landscape,” Nez said. “It is important that the federal government follow the Biden memorandum that directs all federal agencies to honor tribal sovereignty and include the voices of tribes in policy deliberations that affect their communities.”

This issue is such a sensitive matter that allottees who intended to talk about it with The Arizona Republic said they had a change of heart due to cultural beliefs.

Plan would affect income sources

The fate of Chaco Canyon has been a pressing issue for years, and both sides of the argument have been working toward making their voices heard on how the situation should be dealt with.

Haaland, a member of Pueblo of Laguna, last year announced the government’s intention to withdraw about 350,000 acres of public land from further mineral leasing for 20 years to protect Chaco Canyon. Navajo Nation Council Delegates want a 5-mile buffer around the Canyon, rather than a 10-mile buffer.

Although the intent is to protect and preserve what many tribes feel to be a sacred site, the Diné who live near and around the area, referred to as allottees, disagree with Haaland and are against this proposal.

US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland addresses a crowd during a celebration at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico on Nov. 22, 2021. The Biden administration has begun the process of withdrawing federal land from oil and gas development within a 10-mile radius of the park's boundaries for 20 years.

“There is the political overlay with it,” said Eid. “The administration, and the buffer, the 10 miles versus 5 miles. The nation supports 5 miles, because that’s where the oil is. There is no oil or gas, from a geological standpoint, that’s known within a 5-mile buffer of any of the Chaco units. But when you get out to 10 miles, you interfere with all the very best oil and gas leases the allottees have.”

But these voices aren’t the only ones in the debate. Environmentally conscious youth and supporters of eliminating fracking and extraction in the area completely are also raising awareness.

“With many differing opinions about the proposed withdrawal of federal mineral leases for the next 20 years swirling around, it seemed like maybe the only way to gain some clarity on ‘the issues’ was to refamiliarize myself with the landscape,” said Dustin Martin who Lives in Gallup, New Mexico. “I believe Native People have the right to cover their homelands in the ways of their ancestors. If we do not exert this right, we allow ourselves and others to forget our connection to the land.”

More:After a ‘scary’ beginning, Navajo leaders say their COVID-19 response has become a model

‘Approach the land respectfully’

Martin is the executive director of Wings of America, a Native youth running group. Like many Navajos, Martin has ties to Chaco Canyon. His paternal grandfather ran a cattle ranch with his brothers in the proposed buffer zone south of Chaco. He said as he learned more about the process of fracking, he’s become adamantly opposed to its technology.

“The times he took me there to feed, water and round up livestock taught me many lessons about my culture and how to approach the land respectfully,” Martin said. “As I’ve watched oil and gas development boom along US 550 between Cuba and Bloomfield the last 15 years, I’ve wondered if what was once my grandpa’s ranch would suffer the same fate. Organizing this run was a culmination of all those experiences and feelings.”

Wings across America came together for the Greater Chaco Run, which was held March 24-26 from Thoreau, New Mexico, to Chaco Canyon. The purpose of the event was to run in prayer for land and water, and to get more information on the proposed land withdrawal and the impact it has had on local residents.

Pueblos also have ancestral claim to Chaco Canyon, said Rebecca Touchin, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna. She wants to engage with the youth so they can see for themselves how the oil and gas industry is impacting the area. She also said what happens in Chaco Canyon will reflect on the state’s renewable energy outlook.

“We felt it was very important they see on the ground for themselves how the oil and gas industry are effecting that sacred area,” said Touchin.

National Park Service Some preservationists fear that more development and fracking could harm the environment and sites such Pueblo Bonita, a complex in the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

Getting the youth to engage with those who aren’t in support of the land withdrawal is an important objective, touchin believes. She said she understands that wanting to protect Chaco would jeopardize allottees and their incomes.

Touchin and Martin are also a part of the Bears Ears Prayer Run Alliance, which is focused on uniting tribes of the Southwest around their ancestral ties to the land. Through running, the group works to promote healing and prayer for the sacred sites in and around Bears Ears, where former President Barack Obama created a national monument. Running for Chaco Canyon was inherently something they had to do.

“Even if we are descendants of Chaco Canyon, we sometimes forget where we come from,” said Touchin. “It was empowering to hear the elders there in that area, and how important we were to them to be able to bring something to light, and for them to educate us on things you don’t hear about.”

During the run, Martin and Touchin talked about how seeing the state around the area opened the youth’s eyes. Touchin said the lack of economic development other than oil and gas in the area is appalling.

“There are so many dirt roads to those communities that need to paved,” said Touchin. “There’s a lot that needs to be done and is being neglected in that area. And I don’t see them (oil and gas companies) giving back anything at all to the communities.”

How to comment on the proposal

The comment period on the proposed withdrawal has been extended 30 days and will now end on May 6.

Two additional public meetings have been scheduled to accept oral comments:

Wednesday, April 27, from 2 pm-7 pm at San Juan College in Farmington, New Mexico, and Friday, April 29 from 8 am to noon at the National Indian Programs Training Center in Albuquerque.

All attendees must pre-register. Attendance is capped at 45 participants for each session, with a one-session limit per individual. The meetings will follow current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Department of the Interior COVID-19 large-group gathering protocols. All sessions will have a Navajo-language translator available.

Contact Sarah Scott at 505-564-7689 or [email protected] to register.

Arlyssa Becenti covers Indigenous affairs for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send ideas and tips to [email protected].

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