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The coalition used four Western case studies to highlight the negative impacts of fossil fuel extraction on federally protected lands: Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Teton National Park.
The authors said that in the region surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the Bureau of Land Management has leased more than 90% of public lands to oil and gas developers.
They added that more than 37,000 oil wells had been dug in the region, and a methane cloud covering more than 1,200 square miles has formed over New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah.
The coalition recommended federal legislation to protect Chaco Canyon, an area that’s culturally significant to the area’s Native American communities, and noted the Bureau of Land Management was considering withdrawing roughly 10 square miles of public land surrounding the region from mineral leasing.
Finalizing that proposal is “essential,” Jerome Lucero, vice-chair of the All-Pueblo Council of Governors, said in the report, as is legislation to permanently protect the area.
Proposed drilling ban around Chaco Canyon gets support from All Pueblo Council of Governors
Growing oil and gas development in the Permian Basin, near Carlsbad Caverns in southeastern New Mexico, are correlated with a rise in airborne ozone levels that violates National Ambient Air Quality Standards, the authors said.
Ozone concentrations greater than 70 parts per billion can have detrimental effects on human health, including lung scarring and inflammation, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
According to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board, ozone levels at Carlsbad Caverns first rose to unsafe levels in 2018, when they measured 71 parts per billion. These levels remained elevated into 2020, when they measured 73 parts per billion.
As a large national park, Carlsbad Caverns has special air quality protections under the Clean Air Act. Yet the EPA paused its investigation to officially designate the area as violating those standards earlier this year.
The top New Mexico environment official said this week a federal designation would come eventually, according to public radio news station KUNM.
An EPA spokesperson did not respond to a message seeking comment.
Interior’s decision to disallow mineral extraction on forest land surrounding the caverns and recent rewrites of state and federal methane laws are steps in the right direction, the report s authors said.
“However, a thorough assessment of the cumulative risks posed by oil and gas drilling on the wide-reaching cavern system connected to Carlsbad Caverns, and similar protections put in place, is greatly needed to protect these irreplaceable resources,” they said.
A rocky future for Colorado, Wyoming wildlife
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