Good news: fracking leases canceled outside New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon

Media Contacts
Rachel Richardson

Environment America

WASHINGTON, DC — Yesterday the Obama administration announced it was cancelling lease sales of over 2,000 acres near New Mexico’s historic Chaco Canyon. Rachel Richardson, program director of Environment America’s Stop Drilling Program issued the following statement:

“This announcement is an important victory for Chaco Canyon and all those who visit it for hiking, stargazing, and exploring pueblos more than a thousand years old. Fracking outside the canyon would turn this amazing place into an industrial zone.

“We applaud Secretary Jewell’s decision to cancel the upcoming lease sale pending adequate environmental review and consultation with tribal leaders — steps we believe will show just how much Chaco Canyon stands to lose if risked to fracking. Furthermore, we urge the Obama administration to halt all new fracking on public lands, both to protect other treasured landscapes like Chaco and to help stem the climate crisis.”