Native groups and allies working to stop fracking across Greater Chaco hand-delivered a letter to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Santa Fe. The letter demands the BLM stop its plans to continue drilling and leasing lands in the Greater Chaco area managed by the Rio Puerco Field Office and immediately initiate a meaningful planning process that honors tribes and environmental justice. The last plan guiding resource management for this office was approved in 1986—long before industrialized fracking cast its shadow over the Greater Chaco landscape.
Navajo government bodies and more than two dozen Native groups and allies representing more than 2.5 million (!) members and supporters signed the letter. The letter was delivered as part of the #RunningForOurLives prayer run.
At the June 20 online lease sale, the BLM is offering close to 40,000 acres of New Mexico public and tribal land for oil and gas leasing, including more than 37,000 acres of land in the northern portion of the Rio Puerco Field Office.
Read the press release.
