Time visit Chaco Canyon

[Ed Richards]

The federal judge who had blocked oil drilling in the Chaco Canyon area just reversed himself. Depending on the market for oil, we could see exploration and drilling in the next few years. It will be a few miles away, but it will destroy the sublime quiet that was the hallmark of the Chaco Canyon experience for me. There is pressure to fast track these projects so the damage will be done before another administration can try to roll back the opening of public lands - once development starts, it is very difficult to reverse.

[John Layton]

This is such horrible news. I've been to Chaco many times...typically camping there for a few days - and each time the magic of the place grows stronger. I think that that federal judge ought to spend some time there and then re-visit his reversal.

[Willie]

Time for the Monkey Wrench Gang to get going again? Use photos for documenting the damage to the area? Aerial drones to video what is happening? Streaming to TheCloud" so reaction is quick to form?

[John Layton]

yep...time to honor Hayduke...time to dump some sugar into some fuel tanks!

[David Lobato]

Times have changed since Hayduke’s productive years. Instead of Hayduke, picture me as Doc with a LF camera.

[Ed Richards]

We are going to see this on many critical areas. Mining around Grand Canyon, shrinking or eliminating national monuments, etc. I do not know how you document silence, which is a defining characteristic of Chaco.

[Peter Lewin]

Agree with all of the above posts. Chaco Canyon, like many Anasazi sites, is magical, and the silence is a benefit of its relative isolation, which will be lost. While the ruins are not as amenable to LF photography (although the only restrictions are within the ruins themselves) you can find similar silence at Keet Seel within the Navajo National Monument, again due to the isolation. Similar to Chaco, you have to camp overnight, but also similar to Chaco, the ghosts of the Anasazi hover near by.

[goamules]

The question is how far from the monument would any work be, and how loud would it be? And how far does the sound carry? Councilor, NM is the closest "oil town", and is 38 miles away. In canyon lands, that could be on the other side of several mesas, canyons, small mountains....

[David Lobato]

The question is how far from the monument would any work be, and how loud would it be? And how far does the sound carry? Councilor, NM is the closest "oil town", and is 38 miles away. In canyon lands, that could be on the other side of several mesas, canyons, small mountains....

Last year I saw a publication that drilling would be close by the NPS boundaries, as in less than a mile away. The rangers are aware of how close it will be. That surprised me because I thought adjacent lands were either reservation land or NPS land. Apparently there are tracts of land with available mineral rights scattered around the area.

[Drew Wiley]

There still has to be a financial incentive. There's already a glut of Oil and natural gas. Of course, the scheme is to export a lot of it. But when a Kleptocracy is in charge, it's all about grabbing as much as you can while you can.