Urgent action needed: Defend Chaco Canyon

The Bureau of Land Management is trying to open 300,000 acres around Chaco Canyon to oil and gas drilling -- and they're only giving the public 14 days to weigh in.

Chaco Canyon and its surrounding area are one of the most pristine wildernesses left in the US. This landscape is bursting with natural and historical treasures.

The wildflower meadows, riverside woodlands, and sprawling deserts around Chaco Canyon shelter wildlife of all kinds — from elk, to bobcat, to birds and more. They’re a refuge for animals that struggle to find homes where mineral extraction has already damaged the environment.

This is the land that many Ancestral Puebloans called home hundreds of years ago, and many of their historical artifacts are still preserved there today. And the wind-carved stone formations of Chaco Canyon hold secrets from even deeper in history, too: Fossils of prehistoric life.

Add your name: The natural and historical heritage of this special place is worth protecting.