Trump Wants to Allow Oil Drilling Near 1,000-Year-Old Native American Ruins

Chaco Canyon’s 1,000-Year Protection at Stake

A thousand years ago, the Ancestral Puebloans built the largest structures in North America inside a remote New Mexico canyon.

Their great houses stood four stories tall, aligned with the sun and stars, connected by roads that stretched across the desert.

Today, Chaco Culture National Historical Park holds what remains of that civilization, a UNESCO World Heritage Site sacred to dozens of tribes whose ancestors walked these grounds.

Now the Trump administration wants to open the surrounding land to oil and gas drilling, and the fight over Chaco’s future has split Native American communities down the middle.

BLM Announces Plans to Lift Drilling Ban

On October 30, 2025, the Bureau of Land Management sent letters to tribal leaders announcing plans to revoke a 20-year ban on oil and gas development around Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

The agency said it would conduct an environmental assessment and hold a public comment period before making a final decision.

New Mexico’s congressional delegation immediately condemned the move, calling Chaco Canyon one of the most important living cultural landscapes on the planet.

Three Options for Chaco’s Future

The BLM letter outlined three possible outcomes: keeping the current 10-mile buffer zone intact, revoking it entirely, or shrinking it to a smaller radius around the park.

The full revocation would put federal parcels back on the board for future oil and gas leasing.

The plan to rescind the buffer zone was included in Project 2025, the conservative roadmap for the Trump administration.

Biden Created the Ban Two Years Ago

The 20-year drilling moratorium was put in place by Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in 2023.

The order barred new oil and gas development on federal lands within a 10-mile radius of the park, though it did not affect existing leases or private land.

No oil or gas leases had been issued within the buffer zone for about 10 years before the ban took effect. Haaland, a member of Laguna Pueblo, was the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary.

The Largest Buildings in North America

Between AD 900 and 1150, Chaco Canyon was a major cultural center for the Ancestral Puebloans, who quarried sandstone blocks and hauled timber from great distances to build fifteen major complexes.

These structures remained the largest buildings in North America until the 19th century. The canyon served as a focus for ceremonies, trade, and political activity across the prehistoric Four Corners region.

Pueblo Bonito Rose Five Stories High

Pueblo Bonito, the largest great house, contained about 800 rooms and stood four to five stories tall.

Construction began around AD 828 and continued for 300 years. The complex contained 39 kivas, the round subterranean chambers used for ceremonies.

The buildings were connected by some 400 miles of engineered roads to dozens of other settlements across the region.

Dozens of Tribes Call Chaco Home

From Acoma and Laguna pueblos in New Mexico to the Hopi people in Arizona, oral histories and cultural traditions link back to the Chaco region.

At Picuris Pueblo, researchers have used DNA to link tribal members to the ancestral site.

Santo Domingo Pueblo Lt. Gov. Raymond Aguilar said pueblo ancestors who called Chaco home were stewards of the land and that it still serves as a center of prayer today.

Pueblo Leaders Go to Washington

In September 2025, New Mexico’s congressional delegation joined with governors and lieutenant governors from eight Pueblos to demand the Trump administration maintain protections around Chaco.

Acoma Pueblo Gov. Charles Riley said Pueblo leaders traveled to Washington united as one to ensure protections for one of their most sacred places.

The park contains more than 4,700 known archaeological sites within a 10-mile radius that could be affected by drilling.

The Navajo Nation Takes a Different Side

The debate over the buffer zone has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region.

Some Navajos have called for a smaller protected area to preserve oil and gas royalties that families depend on.

The Navajo lawsuit calls northwest New Mexico economically bleak because the land is too dry to farm and 30% of residents live without electricity.

Oil royalties represent one of the few income sources for some families.

A Lawsuit Challenges Biden’s Order

In January 2025, the Navajo Nation sued the Interior Department, alleging that Haaland failed to consult with tribal members about the economic impacts of the drilling ban.

The complaint claims the withdrawal should be vacated because the government violated its legal obligations and fiduciary duty to the Navajo Nation.

Some Navajo allottees oppose the ban because they rely on royalties from mineral rights beneath their land.

20,000 Wells Already Surround the Park

The San Juan Basin surrounding Chaco has about 20,000 active wells out of 30,000 total.

In 2019, an accident at a well near the park dumped 1,400 barrels of fracking chemicals and crude oil into a stream that ran across a Navajo family’s property.

Oil and gas development has already scarred the landscape with tens of thousands of wells and roads that cut through the Chaco region.

Congress Could Make Protection Permanent

In April 2025, New Mexico lawmakers reintroduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act to permanently ban drilling within 10 miles of the park.

Without an act of Congress, the administrative ban can be reversed by any future president. Senator Martin Heinrich called on Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to visit the site before making decisions about its future.

The legislation remains pending as the BLM moves forward with its review.

Visiting Chaco Culture National Historical Park, New Mexico

The park sits at the end of 13 miles of unpaved road from US 550 near Nageezi. Roads can become impassable when wet, so call 505-786-7014 for conditions before you go.

Entry costs $25 per vehicle for seven days, and credit cards are required since the park is cashless. The visitor center is open daily 9am to 5pm, and park hours vary by season.

Pueblo Bonito is the only great house where visitors can walk through the original rooms. There is no cell service.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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