More than a dozen environmental groups are urging the Trump administration to reverse course on its recent proposal to lift oil and gas restrictions around a historic Native American site in northern New Mexico.
In a public comment submitted to the Bureau of Land Management on Tuesday, the Western Environmental Law Center joined a coalition of environmental groups calling the tight timeline for people to submit comments “inadequate” and a violation of the intent of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act. That law gives Interior secretaries the authority to impose a long-term mineral leasing withdrawal — a de facto ban on most new drilling by restricting new oil leases.
The groups accused the administration of providing the “minimum legally required environmental justice, public participation, and consultation” and warned that revoking the mineral withdrawal ordered by former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland would cause “irreparable harm to irreplaceable cultural, archaeological, environmental, and public health resources.”
BLM announced last week that it would consider lifting a 20-year moratorium on new oil and gas development around Chaco Culture National Historical Park or reduce the protected area from the current 10-mile buffer to a 5-mile buffer, reflecting a compromise once offered by the Navajo Nation to allow some oil and gas development in the area. BLM gave the public seven days to submit comments to help shape a forthcoming environmental assessment.
