{"id":21000,"date":"2022-02-15T18:37:33","date_gmt":"2022-02-15T23:37:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=21000"},"modified":"2022-02-15T18:37:33","modified_gmt":"2022-02-15T23:37:33","slug":"public-meetings-scheduled-to-protect-lands-around-chaco-canyon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2022\/02\/15\/public-meetings-scheduled-to-protect-lands-around-chaco-canyon\/","title":{"rendered":"Public meetings scheduled to protect lands around Chaco Canyon"},"content":{"rendered":" \"Deb<\/a>
Secretary Deb Haaland, then a member of the U.S. Congress, is seen during a visit to Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico on April 14, 2019. Photo by Monica Sanchez \/ Natural Resources Democrats<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n
Public meetings scheduled to protect lands around Chaco Canyon<\/div>\r\n
Tuesday, February 15, 2022<\/div>\r\n
Indianz.Com<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe Bureau of Land Management<\/a> is hosting public meetings next week to discuss protecting ancestral and sacred land in New Mexico from development.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe BLM is proposing to withdraw 351,479.97 acres around Chaco Culture National Historical Park<\/a>. If the action is approved, the land will be protected from oil and gas drilling and other types of activities for 20 years.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \u201cChaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep spiritual meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked, and thrived in that high desert community and have cared for the area since time immemorial,\u201d said Secretary Deb Haaland<\/a>, who oversees the BLM in her role as the first Native person to lead the Department of the Interior<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLast November, Haaland temporarily put a stop to development around Chaco Culture. She acted primarily at the request of Pueblo tribes<\/a> and the Navajo Nation<\/a>, whose leaders oppose oil and gas drilling on sacred and ancestral territory.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cFor too many years, the Navajo Nation has been assaulted by waves of resource exploitation and legacies of sacrifice zones,\u201d said Daniel Tso, a Navajo citizen who serves as a delegate to the Navajo Nation Council<\/a>, the tribe’s legislative body.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \"Pueblo<\/a>

Pueblo Pintado is part of the greater Chaco Culture National Historical Park landscape in northwestern New Mexico. Photo: John Fowler<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nThe BLM on January 5 then published a notice in the Federal Register announcing the proposed withdrawal<\/a>. The public meetings are part of the process in gathering input about the action<\/a>.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nTwo of the meetings are taking place in person while the third is being held virtually. The schedule follows:\r\n

<\/p>\r\n

\r\nFebruary 23, 3:00-4:30 p.m.
\r\nSan Juan College Henderson Fine Arts Building
\r\n4601 College Boulevard
Farmington, NM 87402
\r\nContact Sarah Scott 505-564-7689 or sscott@blm.gov to register\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFebruary 23, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
\r\nSan Juan College Henderson Fine Arts Building
\r\n4601 College Boulevard
Farmington, NM 87402
\r\nContact Sarah Scott 505-564-7689 or sscott@blm.gov to register\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFebruary 24, 6:00-7:30 p.m.
\r\nVirtually
\r\nRegister: \r\nblm.zoomgov.com\/webinar\/register\/WN_79HAmxoxQ-GXRVRBXl5U0w<\/a>\r\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nAccording to the BLM, all participants must register in advance. For the two in-person meetings, a maximum of 50 people are allowed.\r\n

<\/P>\r\nWritten comments are being accepted through April 6. They can be submitted online, through email or via the postal service.\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

\r\nePlanning: eplanning.blm.gov\/eplanning-ui\/project\/2016892\/510<\/a>\r\n

<\/P>\r\nEmail: blm_nm_fm_ccnhp_area_withdrawal_comments@blm.gov; \r\n

<\/P>\r\nMail: Bureau of Land Management, Farmington Field Office, Attn: Sarah Scott, 6251 College Blvd., Suite A, Farmington, NM 87402. \r\n<\/div>\r\n

<\/P>\r\n

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