Federal land managers will be holding a series of virtual meetings on a contested plan that will guide oil and gas development near Chaco Culture National Historical Park for at least the next decade.
The first meeting will be May 14. Four others will follow. Environmentalists, some Native American tribes and other critics have asked the Bureau of Land Management to extend the public comment period on the resource management plan,. They say federal officials should wait until the coronavirus outbreak subsides. Despite existing protections within its boundaries, the World Heritage site has been at the center of a decades-long fight over drilling in northwestern New Mexico.
