NEPA Number DOI-BLM-NM-F010-2026-0002-EA
Project Name Evaluation of Potential Revocation of Chaco Withdrawal
Project Type EA
NEPA Status In Progress – Public Review and Comment Period
Lead Office Farmington Field Office
Last Updated 7/19/2026 5:00:00 PM
Public Comment
Of course commercial interests want to make use of natural resources in the Chaco Canyon region. There is a need for minerals to keep feeding the engine of progress, and it’s easiest to take those minerals from land that is already controlled (in whatever fashion) by the US Federal Government. However the Federal Government’s main job is to balance competing interests and pursue, establish, and maintain longterm priorities over the (relatively) quick buck. The U.S. Dept of the Interior has a long tail: what’s been done wrong in the past persists into the present, and what is done wrong now will complicate the future. The U.S. Dept of the Interior has also championed good and right causes on behalf of the entire human population of this country, as well as on behalf of the remaining other species of life on earth.
Not all decisions are existential but at this moment in history, whether or not to continue preserving Chaco Canyon as a natural wonder of the country and an historically sacred location for special human cultures does rise to this level. I hope you — a human being — are actually reading these comments and not just the AI-generated summary. I’m sure the summary will collect, summarize, and rank the viewpoints, including highlighting key points. Being statistically-driven will necessarily reduce the unique sentiments, phrasings, and styles of argumentation of the individual commentators to something generally coherent but lacking art, individuality, and likely losing persuasive capacity. The reduction of logical argumentation to common, easily repeatable bullet points is an analogy with the unique preciousness of Chaco Canyon and the kind of decision-making you invoke if you choose to reduce its legal protection.
Treating such an important site as if it is just land like any other land is demeaning to the values of individuality, respect, and freedom that define the American character. Independence is only valuable when there are zones off-limits to its exercise! Otherwise there is just conflict and ongoing harm. We reduce ourselves to artificial performances of politeness and civility in the company of only those we choose, while promoting sheer violence and anomie for everyone else. This is half of human history, of course, the constant striving to top a social hierarchy. The other half of human history involves intercultural curiosity, egalitarian values, and creative design of governance to improve life chances for others, including elders, children, and future generations. The desire to leave something more/better for ones children is practically universal; this includes access to natural wonders and locations where spiritual considerations are highly held, even revered. There are plenty of base practices for folks to consume! Delivered through incredible digital infrastructures, powered by amazing inventions, turning out inspirational art, philosophy, scientific breakthroughs and physical performances at the very edges of human capacities. We are a wondrous species, and the American experiment is a crowning, albeit flawed, achievement.
The preservation of wildness, of wilderness, of nature and natural places and ecosystems and vast terrestrial environments is part-and-parcel of Americanness. Understand your position as you judge whether or not to preserve this particular place of human and ecological history. It wasn’t just important back then, when it was originally protected, it is also important right now, today – in the state that it is in — and will continue to have value for humans of the future if we can just hold onto it awhile longer, through this tumultuous time.
Perhaps you can consider your family, your friends, your peers . . . some of them may expect you to go ahead and destroy it. For them it is of little concern… but I wonder, what are their concerns? If they can so easily ignore or disregard such a significant decision with irreversible impact, what do they actually hold dear? I’m sure there are things, but how far do they reach? Are they centrally-located in time and space with immediate personal wellbeing only or do they have perspective on future unfoldings? On ripple effect and knock-ons with bad downstream consequences? For those whom you know (or know of) who do value assessing and measuring the impact of decisions that will be devastating and cause literal destruction, can you perceive they may have a perspective which would benefit you?
Is there a voice within you, an intuition, an inkling of unease with being put in this difficult position? If so, find your courage. Know that we know you must be brave to say no. You must be brave to say the future matters, the people who care about Chaco Canyon matter, that there will be other ways to meet energy and other industrial needs.
There will be.
If you hold the line.
Stephanie Jo Kent
7/22/2026 4:57:00pm