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SANTA FE, N.M., July 20, 2026—In a special Board of County Commissioners meeting today, Santa Fe County commissioners approved a letter to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior opposing the revocation or reduction of Public Land No. 7923 that protects Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

The letter urges the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to select the No Action Alternative and to retain the full withdrawal exactly as it stands.

The withdrawal protects approximately 336,400 acres of federal public lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new federal oil, gas, and mineral leasing while preserving valid existing rights and continuing to allow the majority of surrounding federal mineral resources to remain available for development.

The Bureau of Land Management is currently evaluating alternatives that would either revoke the withdrawal entirely or reduce the protected buffer from approximately 10 miles to 5 miles. The BLM press release has more information.

The commissioners' letter, introduced by Commissioner, D2, Lisa Cacari Stone, reads in part, “Greater Chaco deserves permanent, durable protection, not repeated threats of rollback that force Tribal Nations and the public to keep refighting a battle that was already won through years of good-faith process.”

“Chaco Canyon is an incredible testament to the historical Ancestral Puebloan culture and its legacies persisting in the indigenous landscape in our present-day Southwest. It is a treasure that we must fight to protect, to preserve the unique history of our region and its peoples,” said Commissioner, D4, Adam F. Johnson.

“The plan to remove the buffer zone around Chaco Canyon is a terrible idea. Chaco Canyon is a beautiful World Heritage Site. It must be preserved,” said Commissioner, D5, Hank Hughes.

The public can submit comments online through the BLM project portal until July 29 at midnight, Mountain daylight time.

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