Tell the Bureau of Land Management: Keep oil drilling away from Chaco Canyon

The millennium-old ruins, clay-colored cliffs and dark starry skies of Chaco Culture National Historical Park make it a place where time stands still -- but this place won't stay timeless if it becomes home to drilling rigs.

From its mesas and cliffsides to the streams that flow through its canyons, the park is home to a host of different plants and animals. Elk graze among the shrubs and drink from the streams, snakes slither among the rocks, and bobcats silently stalk the rabbits that hide among the grasses and bushes. Already, this desert wildlife has been pushed into Chaco Canyon as the habitat around it has been lost thanks to human development.

This park, its wildlife and its iconic ruins need protection from the degradation that comes with development. That's why I'm urging you to adopt President Biden's recently proposed rules to ban oil and gas leases within a 10-mile radius around the park.