For too long, the Greater Chaco region has been ravaged by the oil and gas industry, putting Tribal communities at risk, undermining the cultural integrity of the landscape, and jeopardizing clean air and water. It must stop immediately. The Greater Chaco Coalition is calling on the Department of the Interior to end the legacy of broken promises and finally address impacts of sacrifice zones and environmental racism in the Greater Chaco region
Take action today and tell BLM that while a ban on fracking within 10 miles of Chaco Canyon is helpful, ultimately we need landscape-level safeguards to protect and restore the cultural integrity of all Greater Chaco and its communities.
Frack Off Greater Chaco is a collaborative effort between Indigenous community leaders, Native groups, nonprofits, and public lands and water protectors across the southwest and the country working to stop fracking in Greater Chaco.
The Greater Chaco Region is a checkerboarded area of Tribal, state, federal, and allotment land. The Bureau of Land Management has approved more than 500 new fracking wells without adequate Tribal consultation or protections for community health, water and climate impacts. Fracking development threatens ancient Chaco culture and sacred sites and also Navajo people and living communities in the area who have been dealing with the impacts of resource extraction for decades.
Video: San Juan Citizens Alliance
GREATER CHACO HYDROGEN CONCERNS
SAVING CHACO CANYON
Podcast from Paradigms
Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Area (25 million square miles) are among the world’s most treasured sacred and archaeological sites, but the region is threatened by fossil fuel extraction. In this 2-part Paradigms we will learn from Native people involved in resisting the expansion of drilling and fracking in the Greater Chaco Area.
In Part 1 we hear from Emily Bowie of the San Juan Citizens Alliance, Daniel Tso, and Beata Tsosie-Pena who works for Environmental Justice.
Part 2, we will hear from a New Mexico State Legislator Derrick Lente, Executive Director of Salmon Ruins Museum Larry Baker, Eric Blinman Director of the New Mexico Office of Archaeological Studies, and Preservation Archaeologist Paul Reed.
"The oil and gas development has pretty much destroyed our way of life. Our livestock are suffering too. I have been a livestock owner for many years. I made my living by raising sheep and cattle. Now, I am being told by BLM I can only have so many sheep and cattle. My grazing area is getting less and less. But BLM is leasing more and more of the lands to oil and gas development. Soon, there will be nothing left. I believe this is going to happen. My biggest concern is our water, sooner or later it will be contaminated and we will not be able to use our water. How can we get these companies out?"
- Diné Elder, Woody Keetsy, Sr.
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