"The Trump administration’s expected rollback of an oil and gas drilling ban around New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon is pitting tribes and environmental groups against each other as they prepare for possible legal challenges.
The Bureau of Land Management on Oct. 30 began the process of reversing the Biden administration’s ban on oil and gas drilling within a 10-mile radius of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwest New Mexico’s oil and gas-rich San Juan Basin, according to a notice the Interior Department sent to nearby Acoma Pueblo tribal officials.
The Navajo Nation, which borders the park, supports drilling in part because oil royalties help support some of its residents. But many other surrounding tribes and environmental groups opposed to fossil fuels want fracking around Chaco Canyon to be banned as the Trump administration races ahead to develop such resources nationwide.
The bureau will give the public 14 days to comment on its proposal, according to the document, which kicked off a tribal consultation period with Acoma Pueblo—a tribe south of Chaco Canyon."
Bobby Magil reports for Bloomberg Environment November 17, 2025.
Advertisement 
