Indianz.Com > News > Biden administration seeks to protect sacred areas in New Mexico from development

Secretary Haaland Announces Steps to Establish Protections for Culturally Significant Chaco Canyon Landscape
Interior Department to initiate a collaborative process to better steward the area’s cultural, historic, and geologic values
Monday, November 15, 2021
Indianz.Com
The following is the text of a November 15, 2021, news release from the Department of the Interior.
WASHINGTON, D.C — During the Biden-Harris administration’s first White House Tribal Nations Summit later today, President Biden will announce that the Department of the Interior is taking steps to protect the Chaco Canyon and the greater connected landscape with a rich Tribal and cultural legacy in northwest New Mexico.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will initiate consideration of a 20-year withdrawal of federal lands within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, which would bar new federal oil and gas leasing on those lands.
“Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked, and thrived in that high desert community,” said Secretary Deb Haaland. “Now is the time to consider more enduring protections for the living landscape that is Chaco, so that we can pass on this rich cultural legacy to future generations. I value and appreciate the many Tribal leaders, elected officials, and stakeholders who have persisted in their work to conserve this special area.”
In the coming weeks, the BLM intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register that will commence a two-year segregation of the federal lands while the bureau conducts an environmental analysis and seeks public comment on the proposed administrative withdrawal. BLM will also initiate formal Tribal consultation. The segregation and potential withdrawal would not affect existing valid leases or rights and would not apply to minerals owned by private, State, or Tribal entities.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) conserves and manages the Nation’s natural resources and cultural heritage for the benefit and enjoyment of the American people, provides scientific and other information about natural resources and natural hazards to address societal challenges and create opportunities for the American people, and honors the Nation’s trust responsibilities or special commitments to American Indians, Alaska Natives, and affiliated island communities to help them prosper.
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White House Tribal Nations Summit – Day One – November 15, 2021 (November 14, 2021)
White House Tribal Nations Summit – Day Two – November 16, 2021 (November 14, 2021)
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