Protect Greater Chaco Coalition
The park is a World Heritage Site. It includes large stone structures, kivas and other features, many aligned with celestial events, such as the summer solstice.
During the bill's unveiling last week, co-sponsor Udall noted the bill is about cultural protection of a historic site, while Heinrich noted the region has a long history of oil-and-gas operations, and that won't change any time soon.
The Protect Greater Chaco Coalition wants to see more protections and a moratorium on oil-and-gas operations in the area.
"Put simply, this legislation isn't enough, and the fight to protect our future and our past is far from over," the coalition said.
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From Deb Haaland Could Be Congress' First Native American Woman--and a Voice for New Mexico's Sacred Lands
Not even the most sacred sites in the New Mexican desert can escape the claws of the oil-and-gas industry. Throughout Navajo Nation lands on the outskirts of the 30,000-acre Chaco Culture Historical Park, metal mechanisms buzz and rattle as they penetrate the earth to extract fossil fuels hiding beneath the surface.Haaland's got some senior Congress members on her court: Democratic senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall. Since May, they've been trying to push a bill through Congress that would create a buffer zone around Chaco Culture Historical Park to prevent any further oil-and-gas leases there. If Haaland wins, they'll gain a critical voice that could help convince the rest of their colleagues to hop on board. Her input may actually help get this bill passed, which is feeling unlikely right now.
"Chaco Canyon's not just public land," Heinrich told me as we sat together in one of the party's state campaign offices. "It's part of our history, our culture. It's a world heritage site. It's a globally important resource, and we should view it that way. And I want to see someone get elected who can bring voice to that, and I think Deb Haaland can do that."
(Article changed on January 24, 2019 at 21:19)
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