For Immediate Release

Today, the Bureau of Land Management announced the withdrawal of 351,000 acres of land over the next 20 years within a 10-mile radius around the Chaco Canyon National Historic Park. The land will be removed from leasing sales for a period up to two years while the Department of the Interior evaluates the withdrawal application. 

President Biden promised to end fracking on public lands during his 2020 campaign, but instead has continued the approval of leases for oil and gas exploration across the U.S., including a massive sale of new leases off the  Gulf Coast. 

The Indigenous-led Greater Chaco Coalition criticized today’s announcement for failing to provide a long-term solution that protects the health and cultural sites of New Mexico’s Chaco community.

Food & Water Watch Policy Director Jim Walsh released the following statement:

“President Biden’s actions showcase yet again his failure to fulfill his campaign promise to ban fracking on public lands. Initiating the withdrawal of federal mineral and fossil fuel extraction around Chaco Canyon is a promising but ultimately inadequate step. Until the Biden administration ends fossil fuel extraction on federal lands and cuts Big Oil’s stranglehold on our energy future, New Mexico will serve as one more reminder of Biden’s failure to protect the country’s climate and communities from profiteering corporations.”

New Mexico is the nation’s second largest oil producer and a potential new hub for fossil hydrogen, an energy source opposed by environmental advocates that locks in fossil fuel extraction and production.

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Contact: Jessica Gable, (202) 683-2478, [email protected]