Biden to enforce ban on oil, gas drilling to protect tribal sites around New Mexico’s Chaco

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The Biden administration is implementing a 20-year withdrawal banning oil and gas development outside the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. The action taken by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state was announced Friday. It is intended to protect cultural and historic resources that tribal communities consider sacred. The order will apply to public lands and federal mineral within a 10-mile radius. President Joe Biden initially proposed this ban in November 2021 at the White House Tribal Nations Summit. The withdrawal applies only to federal public lands.