{"id":33471,"date":"2023-06-11T23:54:46","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T05:54:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protest-derails-celebration-of-20-year-ban-on-oil-drilling-near-chaco-national-park\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:10:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:10:13","slug":"protest-derails-celebration-of-20-year-ban-on-oil-drilling-near-chaco-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/protest-derails-celebration-of-20-year-ban-on-oil-drilling-near-chaco-national-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Protest derails celebration of 20-year ban on oil drilling near Chaco national park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Landowner
Landowner Paulina Atenico, left, tell activists to \u201cgo home\u201d near a roadblock on County Road 7950 east of Chaco Culture National Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Opponents and supporters for a buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Park clashed on Sunday after Navajo Allotees blocked a portion of CR 7950 that lead in to the park during U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's planned visit. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

ALBUQUERQUE \u2013 It was supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, after her agency spent many months hosting public meetings and talking with Native American leaders about curbing the pace of oil and gas development in the San Juan Basin and protecting culturally significant sites.<\/p>\n

But her return to Chaco Culture National Historical Park on Sunday was derailed when a group of Navajo landowners blocked the road, upset with the Biden administration\u2019s recent decision<\/a> to enshrine for the next 20 years what previously had been an informal 10-mile buffer around the World Heritage site.<\/p>\n

Social media posts showed protesters yelling \u201cGo Home!\u201d as some held signs that read no trespassing on allottee land.<\/p>\n

The landowners and Navajo leaders have said Haaland and the Biden administration ignored efforts to reach a compromise that would have established a smaller buffer to protect cultural sites while keeping intact the viability of tribal land and private Navajo-owned parcels for future development.<\/p>\n

Haaland was expected to gather Sunday in another location with tribal leaders to celebrate the withdrawal.<\/p>\n

\"Landowner
Landowner Paulina Atenico, center, confronts activists near a roadblock on County Road 7950 leading into Chaco Culture National Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Interior
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland testifies on President Joe Biden's budget request for 2024 at the Capitol in Washington, May 2, 2023. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite, File)<\/span>J. Scott Applewhite<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A group of Navajo landowners confront activists who support a buffer zone against future development on County Road 7950 east of Chaco Culture National Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A group of Navajo landowners protesting against the buffer zone around Chaco Canyon confront activists near a roadblock on County Road 7950 east of Chaco Culture National Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"A
A hiker sits on a ledge above Pueblo Bonito, the largest archaeological site at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in northwestern New Mexico, on Aug. 28, 2021. T (AP Photo\/Cedar Attanasio, File)<\/span>Cedar Attanasio<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Haaland\u2019s own pueblo of Laguna \u2013 about 100 miles to the south \u2013 is among those that have fought to protect a broad swath of land beyond park boundaries. Haaland has called Chaco a sacred place that holds deep meaning for Indigenous people whose ancestors called the area home.<\/p>\n

\u201cEfforts to protect the Chaco landscape have been ongoing for decades, as tribal communities have raised concerns about the impacts that new development would have on areas of deep cultural connection,\u201d Haaland said in a statement issued earlier this month.<\/p>\n

The region is made up of a patchwork of different ownership. Even though the Biden administration\u2019s withdrawal applies only to federal land, Navajo officials and allotment owners said their interests will now be landlocked.<\/p>\n

Navajo President Buu Nygren said in a statement issued Thursday that the weekend celebration was disappointing and disrespectful. It should have been canceled, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe financial and economic losses that are impacting many Navajo families as a result of the secretary\u2019s recent land withdrawal are nothing to celebrate,\u201d Nygren said. \u201cAs leaders of the Navajo Nation, we support the Navajo allottees who oppose the withdrawal of these public lands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Navajo Nation Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said allotment owners were not adequately consulted despite the federal government\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n

Industry groups also have backed the Navajo leaders and landowners, with some alleging that Haaland has conflicts of interest<\/a> when it comes oil and gas policy decisions.<\/p>\n

A Republican-led U.S. House committee announced just days after the Chaco decision that it would investigate the secretary\u2019s ties to an Indigenous environmental group that has protested fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Still, a coalition of environmental groups and Native American activists who campaigned for the restrictions have lauded Haaland\u2019s order as a first step in protecting cultural sites and the region from pollution and climate change. The coalition also continues to lobby for legislation<\/a> that would formalize the same buffer around the park, spanning more than 490 square miles (1,269 square kilometers) of federal land.<\/p>\n

A study<\/a> published last fall by the Interior Department shows the withdrawal<\/a> would not affect existing leases and that much of the area of interest by the industry for future development already is under lease or falls outside the boundary of what would be withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Federal officials have operated under an informal pause when it comes to development around Chaco park for at least the last three presidential administrations, and supporters argue that Navajos had a seat at the table as the latest moratorium was discussed.<\/p>\n

The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which is made up of many tribes that support the withdrawal, noted Sunday that it was joint discussions with the Navajos that began several years ago that prompted the withdrawal efforts.<\/p>\n

\"A
A group of Navajo landowners protesting the 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Park, set up a roadblock on County Road 7950 east of Chaco Culture National Park on Sunday, June 11, 2023. Opponents and supporters for a buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Park clashed on Sunday after Navajo Allotees blocked a portion of CR 7950 that lead in to the park during U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's planed visit. (Jon Austria\/The Albuquerque Journal via AP)<\/span>Jon Austria<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Landowners and Navajo want a smaller buffer to protect park<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-33471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33471"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":82214,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33471\/revisions\/82214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33471"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=33471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}