Representatives of the Pueblo Nation traveled to Washington this week as the U.S. House returned to work to lobby against a bill that would allow oil and gas drilling around the historic Greater Chaco Canyon in northern New Mexico.
The 20 Pueblos are members of the All Pueblo Council of Governors. The council opposes a House bill that would reverse the Department of the Interior’s recent Public Land Order 7923 that prevents new oil and gas development on public lands around the Greater Chaco Canyon.
But H.R. 4374, the “Energy Opportunities for All Act,” was introduced by Republican Representatives Eli Crane and Paul Gosar of Arizona to undo the Order.
Under the order, public lands surrounding the Chaco Culture National Historical Park are withdrawn from future leasing and mining claims.
