Released: Thursday, March 31, 2022
“Doing Better” Says Chaco Honors Initiative groups
The Greater Chaco Coalition sends a follow-up letter to the Department of Home Affairs calling for a halt to the jailbreak, meaningful consultations and a better process.
NEW FARMINGTON, MEXICO — The Greater Chaco Alliance today stepped up its call for Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to immediately halt new oil and gas drilling in the northwestern region of New Mexico while the Department’s “Honor Chaco” Initiative The case is underway, noting the concerns Honor Chaco has handled so far and making important recommendations to improve the process.
In alphabet addressed today to Minister Haaland, the groups highlighted the Home Office’s failure to meaningfully engage with influential Tribes and communities as part of the Chaco Honor Initiative. . The letter lays out six specific steps to improve engagement and highlights the need for the Honoring Chaco initiative to address the legacy of mining and mining in frontline Indigenous communities.
Last year, Home Secretary Deb Haaland responded to the threat of uncontrolled disruption in the region. launch the initiative “Honor Chaco”, a two-part process involving federal mineral recovery within 10 miles of Chaco Cultural National Historical Park and a new collaborative process to address the need for landscape-level management reform . Today’s letter is given as the Ministry of Internal Affairs announced 30-day extension and two additional public meetings as part of the proposed mineral recovery.
In the mining area alone, at least 90,000 acres and 800-1,000 allocated land lots have been leased for oil and gas, allowing drilling to continue unabated regardless of the proposed buffer zone. With much of the land across the region already leased for exploitation, today’s letter affirms “deep concerns that the leasing of a buffer zone around the Chaco Cultural National Historical Park alone will does not lead to the kind of meaningful transformation that the region requires.”
For nearly a decade, Greater Chaco Alliance called on federal and state agencies to stop learning about problems in the area and finally complete promise to address the cumulative effects of fracturing, and to implement effective laws and regulations to protect the Greater Chaco Landscape and the people living there.
Despite Chaco Honor initiative, reports point to Greater Chaco landscape still more threatened ever by oil and gas drilling, exploration and development. In their letter today, the groups cited four new mining projects currently under review by the Bureau of Land Management as of 125 groups. call for an immediate pause 22 to truly “Honor Chaco,” reaffirming the agency’s need to withhold approval of oil and gas operations across the Greater Chaco landscape until the Department’s protection efforts are complete.
CONTACT:
Mario Atencio, Citizen of Diné Against Destruction of Our Environment, (505) 321-9974 [email protected]
Julia Bernal, Director, Pueblo Action Coalition, (505) 220-005, [email protected]
Corn Howland, Diné Allottes Against Mining, [email protected]
Mike Eisenfeld, Citizens Union of San Juan, (505) -360-8994, [email protected]
Kyle Tisdel, Western Environmental Law Center, (575) -613-8050, [email protected]
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