89.9 FM Live From The University Of New Mexico
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

FRI: Biden orders 20-year drilling ban to protect sacred sites outside Chaco, + More

FILE - A hiker sits on a ledge above Pueblo Bonito, the largest archeological site at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in northwestern New Mexico, on Aug. 28, 2021. The Biden administration is implementing a 20-year withdrawal banning oil and gas development outside the boundaries of Chaco Culture National Historical Park in northwestern New Mexico. The action taken by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state was announced Friday June 2, 2023.
Cedar Attanasio
/
AP
A hiker sits on a ledge above Pueblo Bonito, the largest archeological site at the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, in northwestern New Mexico, on Aug. 28, 2021. The Biden administration is implementing a 20-year withdrawal banning oil and gas development outside the boundaries of the park in northwestern New Mexico. The action taken by Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in the nation’s No. 2 oil-producing state was announced Friday June 2, 2023.

Biden orders 20-year ban on oil, gas drilling to protect tribal sites outside New Mexico's Chaco - By Morgan Lee Associated Press

Hundreds of square miles in New Mexico will be withdrawn from further oil and gas production for the next 20 years on the outskirts of Chaco Culture National Historical Park that tribal communities consider sacred, the Biden administration ordered Friday.

The new order from Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland applies to public lands and associated mineral rights within a 10-mile radius of the park. It does not apply to entities that are privately, state- or tribal-owned. Existing leases won't be impacted either.

A World Heritage site, Chaco Culture National Historical Park is thought to be the center of what was once a hub of Indigenous civilization, with many tribes from the Southwest tracing their roots to the high desert outpost.

After extensive studies and consultations, the plan has pitted the Navajo Nation against other tribes in the region amid concerns about economic impacts and that individual Navajo allotment owners may be left landlocked by restrictions on public land.

"Today marks an important step in fulfilling President Biden's commitments to Indian Country, by protecting Chaco Canyon, a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors have called this place home since time immemorial," Haaland said in a statement. "I value and appreciate the many Tribal leaders, elected officials, and stakeholders who have persisted in their work to conserve this special area."

A recent assessment published by the Interior Department shows that the withdrawal will result in a few dozen wells not being drilled.

The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association has argued that the plan would leave additional leases on Navajo land or allotments owned by individual Navajos landlocked by taking federal mineral holdings off the board.

Navajo Nation officials have made similar arguments, saying millions of dollars in annual oil and gas revenues benefit the tribe and individual tribal members. The Navajo Nation completed its own study last year and advocated for a smaller area to be set aside given the economic impacts a withdrawal would have on the tribe.

On Friday, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley expressed disappointment in the Interior Department's decision.

"The Navajo Nation attempted to compromise by proposing a 5-mile buffer as opposed to the 10-mile," Curley said. "The Biden Administration has undermined the position of the Navajo Nation with today's action and impacted the livelihood of thousands of Navajo allotment owners and their families."

The Bureau of Land Management said the 10-mile radius would help protect more than 4,700 known archaeological sites outside the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, while a 5-mile radius would encompass about 2,800 of the sites.

President Joe Biden initially proposed the ban in November 2021 at the White House Tribal Nations Summit. Since then, interviews, planning sessions and meetings with historic preservation experts and others have taken place.

A coalition of environmental groups and Native American activists that campaigned for the restrictions applauded Friday's order as a good first step in protecting cultural sites and the region from pollution and climate change.

"Full landscape management to phase out new and existing oil and gas development is a necessary next step," said Julia Bernal, executive director of Pueblo Action Alliance.

Federal officials have billed the Chaco initiative as a novel effort that could provide a roadmap and lessons learned for future collaborations with tribes.

New Mexico's congressional delegation reintroduced legislation last month that would formalize the same buffer around the park. It would span more than 490 square miles of federal land.

In addition to the approved withdrawal, Haaland — who is from Laguna Pueblo and is the first Native American to lead a Cabinet agency — has committed to taking a broader look at how federal land across the region can be better managed while taking into account environmental effects and cultural preservation.

Rights upheld, lawsuit revived against teacher accused of cutting Native American student's hair - By Morgan Lee Associated Press

An appeals court ruling has revived an anti-discrimination lawsuit accusing an Albuquerque teacher of cutting off one Native American girl's hair and asking another if she was dressed as a "bloody Indian" during class on Halloween.

Outrage over the girls' treatment propelled legislation in New Mexico and beyond that prohibits discrimination based upon hairstyle and religious head garments.

The American Civil Liberties Union's lawsuit accused Albuquerque Public Schools and a teacher of discrimination and fostering a hostile learning environment. ACLU of New Mexico Deputy Director Leon Howard said the ruling affirms that public schools are subject to antidiscrimination protections in the New Mexico Human Rights Act.

The appellate ruling validates that all "students must feel safe at school and confident that their culture, history, and personal dignity are valued and respected by the public schools they attend," Howard said in a statement.

A lower court had determined that a public high school does not qualify as a "public accommodation" under the state's civil rights law. The appellate ruling returns the lawsuit to state district court for a hearing on its merits.

"If a public secondary school official in their official capacity were to refuse services to an individual based on the individual's race, religion, or sexual orientation, then the New Mexico Human Right Act would surely apply," Appeals Court Judge J. Miles Hanissee wrote.

Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman Monica Armenta said the district is considering options to appeal.

The lawsuit alleges that English teacher Mary Jane Eastin dressed up as a voodoo witch on Halloween in 2018 and initiated a game in which she would ask students questions and reward those who answered correctly with marshmallows while giving dog food to those who didn't.

At some point, Eastin asked a Native American student whether she liked her braids and then cut off about three inches with scissors, sprinkling the hair on her desk, the suit alleges.

The suit says Eastin also asked another student, plaintiff McKenzie Johnson, 16, if she was dressed as a "bloody Indian." Johnson's mother later told reporters her daughter was dressed for Halloween as Little Red Riding Hood, with a red paw mark on her face. Johnson, who is Navajo, said she no longer felt welcome at school.

The school district's superintendent publicly apologized and told parents Eastin would not return to Cibola High School.

Johnson called the ruling a breakthrough for Indigenous students and others.

"We are surrounded by Native communities," she said in a statement. "School staff at all levels need to understand our culture and our history so that what happened in my classroom never happens again."

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed legislation in 2021 that prohibits discrimination, discipline or disparate treatment of students based on hair style, religious headdress or culture.

The U.S. House endorsed an unsuccessful bill last year largely in response to bias Black people can face over their hairstyles in society, school and the workplace.

In 2021, the father of a 7-year-old Michigan girl whose hair was cut by a teacher without her parents' permission filed a $1 million lawsuit against the school district, a librarian and a teacher's assistant. The lawsuit alleged racial discrimination and rights violations against the biracial girl.

Johnson is represented by Parnall & Adams Law and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty.

ABQ’s Kirtland AFB may become Space Force training siteBy Nash Jones, KUNM News

The Space Force’s STARCOM potentially coming to Albuquerque may sound like it would be set up on a film set, but in fact it would be housed at Kirtland Air Force Base.

The U.S. Air Force has announced that the New Mexico base is the preferred site for one of three locations of the Space Training and Readiness Command for the newest military branch.

Air Force officials say the Kirtland command would be called Space Delta 11 and would focus on “all ranges and aggressors,” and would have test and training environments, including the ability to replicate combat in space.

The Air Force selected Kirtland as its top choice following a site survey to assess its infrastructure along with factors like community support and environmental factors, according to a press release.

The final decision will be made later this year.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich called the announcement “a big deal for New Mexico,” adding that the training command post would create hundreds of jobs and “grow the space and defense ecosystem” that the state has long invested in.

New Mexico imposes oil and gas moratorium on state land near schools — Susan Montoya Bryan, Christopher L. Keller, Associated Press

Members of the Navajo community have complained to Samuel Sage for years about the noise and vibrations that rattle their homes.

They tell him about the dust kicked up by heavy trucks traveling the surrounding dirt roads and the smells that come from some of the oil and natural gas wells and tank batteries that dot the land around their Navajo community of Counselor in northwestern New Mexico.

On one day recently, Sage stood on a hill overlooking a public school that serves Counselor. He pointed to wells and tanks in the distance, painted green to blend in with juniper trees and sagebrush.

"Monitoring shows pollution heading either toward the school across the highway or toward the chapter depending on which way the wind is blowing," he said.

Sage, the former president of the Navajo Chapter in Counselor and current community services coordinator, is among a group of residents and environmentalists who have sued New Mexico for allegedly failing to prevent pollution in northwestern and southeastern parts of the state.

About 144,000 people — 7% of the state's population — live or attend a school or day care within a half-mile (0.80 kilometer) radius of oil and gas production, according to the lawsuit. The suit also states that almost all of the elementary, middle and high schools in the Hobbs district in Lea County as well as school districts in Eddy County are surrounded by oil and gas extraction and production sites on state, federal and private lands.

On Thursday, New Mexico Land Commissioner Stephanie Garcia Richard issued an executive order that includes a ban on all new oil and gas leases on state trust land within a mile (1.6 kilometers) of schools or other educational institutions, including day care centers, preschools and sports facilities that students use.

The order, which takes effect Thursday, also calls for her office — which oversees thousands of square miles (kilometers) of surface lands and mineral rights — to review all existing oil and gas leases on state trust land within a mile of schools to assess compliance with state regulations.

"We have an entire list of things we need to get through," Garcia Richard said Thursday when asked about the review process. "It's a lot of work, and while we're prioritizing it's going to take us a while to get through the list."

According to State Land Office estimates, there could be nearly 120 schools within one mile of oil and gas operations on federal, state, Tribal and private lands.

An Associated Press analysis of Oil Conservation Division and State Land Office data for active and new applications for permits to drill on state trust land found nearly 100 oil or gas wells within a mile of at least one school. That's out of more than 13,000 active and new oil and gas leases on state trust land.

The Hobbs School District has one of the highest concentrations of oil or gas wells located near school buildings, according to the analysis.

Hobbs is in the heart of the Permian Basin, one of the most prolific oil plays in the world. The revenue from development there is fueling record state spending on education and other social programs.

Hobbs Superintendent Gene Strickland said his district supports the industry.

"We do not feel the industry is harmful to the district by any proximity of oil and gas wells within the region," he said. "The industry is made up of individuals who are members of our community. We share the same interests and also want nothing adverse to happen to the community we call home."

Within a mile of Jefferson Elementary School on the west side of Hobbs are about 45 wells with active and new applications for permits to drill for oil on state trust land, according to the AP analysis. Heizer Middle School on the south side of Hobbs has 13. Those numbers increase when oil and gas wells outside state trust land are included.

To the north, Lybrook Elementary School near Counselor has 11 active oil wells on state trust land within a mile, according to the state data.

Felix Garcia, superintendent of the Jemez Mountain Public Schools, said the district opted to move the Lybrook school years ago since the previous campus was near a natural gas processing plant, and there were concerns about safety.

"I think it's good that people are starting to raise some concerns because a lot of times nobody looks into it and then down the line you have health issues with the community," Garcia said.

The Western Energy Alliance and other industry groups have argued that producers have been working with regulators and university researchers on drone and satellite technologies that allow for leaks to be more quickly detected and fixed, resulting in emission reductions despite increases in production.

Environmentalists argue that schools and public health can be protected by establishing setbacks or installing more equipment to reduce pollution. New Mexico currently has no setback requirements, although the state has adopted rules aimed at reducing methane emissions and other pollution from the industry.

It was not immediately clear how much revenue the state might have to forego by creating the new school buffer zones. Revenue that results from development on state trust land benefits public schools, universities, state hospitals and some water projects. In November, the State Land Office announced it had processed more than $300 million in oil and gas royalties for October, setting a new one-month record for the agency. Revenues for the last fiscal year topped a record $2.4 billion.

___

Keller reported from Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Man sentenced to life in killing of mother of 2 New Mexico State Police officers — Associated Press

A Mexican national convicted of the 2019 slaying of the mother of two New Mexico State Police officers in a case that drew national attentione has been sentenced to life in prison.

Luis Talamantes-Romero also received an additional prison term of 26½ years on Wednesday for eight other felony convictions in the death of Jacqueline Vigil.

He declined to address the court before his sentencing.

Talamantes-Romero, 35, was convicted in April of first-degree murder along with aggravated burglary, attempted armed robbery, tampering with evidence, conspiracy and other charges.

Authorities said Vigil, 55, was killed outside her northwest Albuquerque home in an attempted burglary in November 2019. She was shot in her driveway as she prepared to leave for a gym.

The case went unsolved for months, drawing the attention of then-President Donald Trump as he pushed his tough-on-crime agenda. Vigil's family also traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with Trump.

Prosecutors said the crime was random as Talamantes-Romero and a passenger drove around Vigil's upscale neighborhood looking for cars to burglarize.

The man who was with Talamantes-Romero when Vigil was shot agreed to testify against him as a condition of his plea agreement with the state on charges unrelated to the murder, according to authorities.