The Trump administration is moving to unwind a 20-year ban on oil and gas leasing in a culturally significant stretch of northern New Mexico treasured by several Native American tribes.
The Bureau of Land Management said Tuesday it will consider revoking a mineral withdrawal that blocks new leasing within a 10-mile buffer around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
If approved, the move would overturn a 2023 public land order issued by then-Interior Secretary Deb Haaland — the first Native American to lead the department — aimed at limiting oil and gas development on more than 300,000 acres surrounding the park.
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The proposal has alarmed environmental and social justice groups that pushed for the protections.