Congress reopens sacred Chaco lands to oil and gas drilling
H.R. 606 — Energy Opportunities for All Act · Filed by Eli Crane (R-AZ) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jan 22, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill nullifies a 2023 federal order that had withdrawn public lands around Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico from mineral leasing. By voiding that withdrawal order, the bill restores those lands to mineral-entry eligibility, allowing oil, gas, and other mineral extraction on federal property adjacent to the archaeological park.
Why we flagged it
The bill's sole operative function is to restore mineral-leasing eligibility on federal lands previously protected from extraction. The title 'Energy Opportunities for All' frames this as broad economic benefit, but the mechanism is narrowly targeted at reopening a specific withdrawal that had protected lands near a cultural and archaeological site.
What the text implies
- Reopening lands adjacent to Chaco Culture National Historical Park may increase pressure on the park itself through cumulative impacts (dust, noise, groundwater depletion, light pollution) affecting both the archaeological resource and visitor experience.
- The bill does not address consultation with Navajo Nation, Pueblo tribes, and other Indigenous nations for whom Chaco is a sacred site — the original withdrawal reflected tribal input that this bill effectively overrides without new tribal engagement.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who stands to gain
oil and gas companies; mineral extraction firms; energy sector operators