After deferring a March lease sale for fracking in the Greater Chaco area due to the need for more cultural study and consultation, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to hold another sale this December. This upcoming sale targets the same region and expanded drilling areas, despite no additional studies having been conducted.

The initial March sale aimed to auction 4,434 acres for oil and gas extraction in the Greater Chaco landscape. It attracted significant protests due to concerns over public health and cultural history risks from expanded fracking. In response to public pressure and calls from U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced that the sale would be deferred pending further cultural consultation, stating that “this area certainly deserves more study.”

However, BLM has now scheduled a December lease sale involving more than 98,000 acres, including over 45,000 acres within the Greater Chaco area. Four parcels are located within ten miles of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Despite Secretary Zinke's earlier remarks about needing more study, no further research has been conducted.

Additionally, BLM has not updated its outdated Resource Management Plans for the region to reflect new horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracking technology. The Navajo Nation, All Pueblo Council of Governors, National Congress of American Indians, 15 Navajo Chapter Houses, and New Mexico House Legislature have all requested a moratorium on drilling until BLM updates their planning process to consider health, environmental, and cultural impacts.

During the first public comment period on this proposed sale, which closed last Friday (July 27), over 3,000 Sierra Club members and supporters submitted comments urging BLM to cancel it. The Sierra Club also participated in technical scoping comments opposing the sale. Another opportunity for public comment will occur in October.