Above, Chaco Culture ancient ruins. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
After the Navajo Nation passed a resolution opposing a ten-mile oil and gas drilling buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park, five Democrats thumbed their noses at them by introducing a bill for "permanent Chaco Canyon protection".
According to Kiowa County Press:
(The Center Square) - Five Congressmen and Senators from New Mexico introduced a bill that they hope will protect Chaco Canyon.
U.S. Senators Ben Ray Lujan and Martin Heinrich and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernandez, Melanie Stansbury, and Gabe Vasquez, all Democrats from New Mexico, reintroduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act this week.
The bill hopes to protect Chaco Canyon and the "greater sacred landscape surrounding the Chaco Culture National Historical Park," according to a press release from Lujan's office.
The Navajo Nation recently voted to reject a proposed buffer around the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, as well as a plan by the U.S. Department of the Interior to withdraw 351,000 acres from oil and natural gas leasing.
Navajo Nation people depend on oil and gas revenue and any bans would put them into deeper poverty.
To read more, go here.
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