New oil and natural gas leasing will be prohibited on state land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, an area sacred to Native Americans, for the next 20 years under an executive order by New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard.
Wednesday's order extends a temporary moratorium that she put in place when she took office in 2019. It covers more than 113 square miles (293 square kilometers) of state trust land in what is a sprawling checkerboard of private, state, federal and tribal holdings in northwestern New Mexico.
