Protest derails planned celebration of 20-year ban on oil drilling near Chaco national park

By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN
Associated Press

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s plans to visit Chaco Culture National Historical Park on Sunday were derailed when protesters blocked the entrance to the northwestern New Mexico site. Haaland and tribal officials were supposed to celebrate her recent decision to enshrine for the next 20 years what had been an informal buffer around the park, protecting archaeological and culturally significant sites from future oil and gas development and mining. But Navajo leaders say Haaland and the Biden administration disrespected efforts to reach a compromise that called for a smaller buffer that would protect the tribe’s financial interests. Haaland ended up gathering later in Albuquerque with tribal officials.