Oil & Gas
Greater Chaco
The San Juan Basin which stretches over much of this part of New Mexico and into southwestern Colorado, including areas of the Navajo Nation and its fringes accounts for about 7 percent of the gas supply of the United States, helping to make New Mexico the second-largest gas-producing state after Texas. Despite such abundance, most Navajos, whether living on the reservation or on land allotted by the federal government, still use firewood to heat their homes and to cook their meals; they are often too poor to afford gas and often, it is not even available where they live.
​
October 14, 2003 – New York Times. "It's Gas vs. Heritage in Navajo Country"
​​​​​
Current Campaigns
On August 4th, 2025 the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) plans to auction 3838.66 acres of public lands in Checkerboard Diné communities of Counselor, Ojo Encino and Torreon/Starlake for horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing of the Mancos Shale/Gallup Formations.
​
On behalf of the Checkerboard Diné communities of Counselor, Ojo Encino and Torreon to immediately direct the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Farmington Field Office and Rio Puerco Office to immediately cancel the November lease sales.
​
We encourage you send a letter to BLM_NM_Q4_2025PROTEST@blm.gov and make sure to bcc Cheyenne A., Diné CARE Energy Organizer at chey@dine-care.org by Wednesday, September 3, 2025.
​
We have drafted a letter below for you. If you decide to write your own, please consider mentioning:
-
BLM is ignoring the cumulative health & social impacts from the oil and gas operations in the San Juan Basin.
-
BLM is enacting mineral and water exploitation from targeted leasing areas to extract for big oil and gas companies benefit.
-
Navajo communities are overburdened with pollution & receive little economic benefit at the cost of destruction to land, water, cultural resources & public health.
-
BLM has not provided translation of their lease sales to Navajo, Pueblo & Spanish speaking communities.
​​
'Ahéhee'/Thank you!