The Bureau of Land Management’s Farmington Field Office has opened a 14-day public comment period on a proposal to revoke Public Land Order No. 7923, which withdrew public lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from certain mineral leasing activities. Comments may be submitted from July 15 through July 29, 2026.
The proposal is addressed in a draft Environmental Assessment identified as DOI-BLM-NM-F010-2026-0002-EA. According to Archaeology Southwest, the withdrawal covers a 10-mile area around Chaco Canyon and was intended to protect public lands and a connected landscape containing Puebloan and Tribal cultural resources from potential impacts associated with oil and gas development.
In a statement issued by the organization, New Mexico Director and Chaco scholar Paul Reed said revoking the withdrawal could result in the loss of cultural places and harm Pueblo peoples’ connections to ancestral lands. Archaeology Southwest also criticized the assessment’s treatment of cultural resources, arguing that it places greater emphasis on perceived economic benefits and socioeconomic conditions in four New Mexico counties than on possible effects to archaeological and cultural sites.
The organization said the assessment’s review of cultural resources relied on a database search of the New Mexico Cultural Resource Information System and a list of Chacoan great houses within the withdrawal area. It argues that the review should make greater use of archaeological research from the region and the knowledge of Tribal experts. The assessment documents 145 Traditional Cultural Properties in the withdrawal area, but Archaeology Southwest says additional sites could be identified through systematic survey by cultural practitioners.
The group also contends that the assessment does not fully consider how impacts to water, air, plants and animals could affect contemporary Indigenous religious practices. It has questioned the Bureau of Land Management’s reliance on a Programmatic Agreement still under development, saying the public has not yet seen the agreement and its ability to address concerns cannot yet be evaluated.
Archaeology Southwest maintains that the assessment’s preliminary finding of no adverse effect to historic properties is premature. The organization is encouraging members of the public to submit tailored comments directly to the Bureau of Land Management during the comment period.
