Interior Secretary Haaland ignores Navajo opposition, creates 10 mile barrier around Chaco Monument

In the kind of one-person power grab that has become all-too-common in recent years and especially with the Biden Administration, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland has instituted a 10 mile barrier around Chaco Canyon Monument. The ban will last for 20 years (unless overturned by a subsequent administration).

The Navajo Nation recently explicitly rejected ANY barrier around the Monument. However as the Journal reports, the nation had in the past supported a 5 mile barrier.

Haaland’s move is expected to cost Navajo members with allotted property rights an estimated $194 million over the next 20 years.

Naturally, New Mexico’s entire Congressional delegation, all of whom are anti-energy radicals, support the 10 mile buffer.