Navajo Nation sues over Chaco Canyon protections

By Niina H. Farah | 01/24/2025 06:39 AM EST

The Biden administration barred oil and gas leasing within 10 miles of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in New Mexico.

New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, which holds ancient tribal artifacts.

New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, which holds ancient tribal artifacts. Ellen M. Gilmer/E&E News

The Navajo Nation is heading to federal court to challenge a long-standing freeze on fossil fuel and mineral development within New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon.

The lawsuit filed last week in federal court in New Mexico challenges the Biden administration’s 2023 decision to withdraw federal lands within a 10-mile radius of the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to thousands of historical and spiritual artifacts. The move received strong support from the Pueblo and Hopi tribes.

The Navajo Nation alleged the Interior Department made its decision without properly consulting with its members about the economic consequences for tribal communities that are already facing financial hardship.

Advertisement

“From the very beginning of this process, Defendants have single-mindedly pursued an exact ten-mile buffer without sufficient analysis or explanation of why that particular number was chosen or how it relates the actual topography and geology of the landscape or the location of the Chacoan sites,” the Navajo Nation said in a complaint filed last Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.

GET FULL ACCESS