April 7, 2026
Ms. Sarah Scott
Bureau of Land Management Farmington Field Office
6251 College Boulevard, Suite A
Farmington, NM 87402
Dear Ms. Scott and colleagues:
On behalf of the Archaeology Division (AD), the Council for Museum Anthropology (CMA), the Council on Heritage and the Anthropology of Tourism (CHAT)—each of which are sections of the American Anthropological Association (AAA)—we write to strongly oppose the proposal by the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management to revoke or modify Public Land Order (PLO) No. 7293. Issued in 2023 following extensive public input, this order protects more than 336,000 acres of public lands forming a 10-mile buffer around Chaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP) in New Mexico. This landscape—its viewsheds, archaeological sites, and cultural heritage—is of profound and enduring significance to Tribal Nations and Puebloan communities, as well as to the nation’s shared heritage.
Archaeologists have documented more than 4,200 sites within this buffer zone, underscoring the extraordinary cultural and scientific value of the area. At the same time, large portions of the landscape remain unsurveyed, meaning the potential for additional significant discoveries is substantial. Any effort to weaken these protections risks irreversible harm to irreplaceable cultural resources and to a landscape that remains spiritually vital to Indigenous communities.
For these reasons, we urge DOI and BLM to maintain PLO No. 7293 in full. Revoking or weakening these protections would not only jeopardize invaluable cultural resources, but also undermine longstanding commitments to responsible stewardship and meaningful consultation with Indigenous Nations.
This statement represents views of members of the named sections (AD, CMA, and CHAT) of AAA, but we do not represent the AAA as a whole. As the world’s largest professional organization of anthropologists, the AAA is deeply committed to the stewardship of archaeological sites, cultural landscapes, and heritage resources. The AAA is a voluntary, not-for-profit, scholarly organization, with diverse sections representing specialized interests and expertise in the many fields of our shared discipline of anthropology. AAA members have extensive expertise in research, preservation, and collaborative engagement with descendant communities, and we strongly support policies aligned with these responsibilities.
Sincerely,
Chris Rodning, Ph.D., President, AD
Christina Hodge, Ph.D., President, CMA
Michael Di Giovine, Ph.D., President, CHAT