Chaco Culture National Historical Park, sits within the greater landscape known as Chaco Canyon— a place rich with cultural history and sacred sites important to Indigenous people while also boasting magnificent viewsheds day and night.

In 2019, after years of work by conservation and Indigenous communities, a 10-mile buffer zone was created between the park site and oil and gas drilling to protect this UNESCO World Heritage Site for posterity. However, now the Trump administration is threatening to remove this buffer zone—a viewshed of 91,793 acres with numerous archaeological sites protected by the National Historic Preservation Act—putting all this important heritage at risk.

From April 1-April 7, 2026 the Department of the Interior opened a public comment period for a proposal by the Bureau of Land Management to revoke the public order that created this important zone. The National Trust submitted comments urging “BLM to pause, slow down, and engage in a process of public dialogue, tribal consultation, and additional study prior to taking any action.” And that “Beyond the significant threat to Chaco Canyon’s cultural and historic resources, there is no legitimate need that justifies opening these lands to drilling.”

In 2011 the Greater Chaco Landscape was listed on the National Trust’s list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.