Contact: Bill Rodgers, Communications, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter
(330) 881-9918 | bill.rodgers@sierraclub.org
Stop Trump from Desecrating the Greater Chaco Landscape
Removal of buffer exposes communities and sacred landscapes to oil and gas extraction
SANTA FE — The Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter is joining our Pueblo, Diné, and Tribal neighbors as well as other environmental and community groups in opposing Trump’s plan to expose the Great Chaco Landscape to oil and gas drilling.
“New Mexicans have said over and over again, in no uncertain terms, that our sacred landscapes and public lands must be protected. Chaco means so much to so many: those who originate from these lands, those who have found our homes here, and those who visit. We will continue to comment and to protest until our call for the protection of the Greater Chaco landscape and its communities are protected.” Diane Reese, Sierra Club Rio Grande Chapter Chair.
Late Wednesday night, Trump’s Bureau of Land Management moved to remove a 10-mile buffer zone that protects the Greater Chaco Region from new oil and gas leasing. This came a day after the administration attempted to slash protections for the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, apparently to also allow for expanded mining and drilling.
Chaco Canyon, whose National Historical Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is sacred to Native peoples in the region. The broader ancestral landscape outside of the park boundaries is already inundated with nearly 40,000 oil and gas wells that threaten land, air, water, sacred places, and public health. The buffer zone is critical to prevent damage to the thousand-year-old Chacoan architecture, as well as harm to the irreplaceable cultural resources throughout the landscape. The buffer zone also offers needed protection to the health and wellbeing of tribal communities in the area.
“The Trump administration’s move devastates cultural heritage and hands tribal and public lands to oil companies harming our irreplaceable history. As we saw in April, the administration is trying to sneak this past with a truncated public-comment period. The administration offered just seven days for scoping in April, bridging the Easter holiday when many people are with their families, but nevertheless New Mexicans and people across the country responded with more than 100,000 comments,” continued Reese.
Our coalition is asking for New Mexico’s help again. Please take a moment to submit a comment opposing Trump’s “environmental assessment” and tell his administration that these are not his lands to sell out to his cronies in the oil and gas industry. That link is here: Sc.org/chaco. The deadline to comment is midnight, July 29, 2026.
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