Overview
- The Bureau of Land Management released a draft environmental assessment proposing revocation of the 2023 20‑year withdrawal and opened a two‑week public comment window that began on July 15.
- Diné, Pueblo and allied groups staged protests in Washington, D.C., and New Mexico and submitted analyses saying the revocation would cause irreversible harm to sacred sites, cultural practices and public health.
- The BLM’s draft assessment projects about $7.4 million in annual economic output from reopening the roughly 338,690‑acre buffer while tribal and advocacy analyses argue it would yield minimal extra energy and risk greater tourism and health losses.
- Some local officials including San Juan County commissioners back revocation, and BLM leaders cite lost local income from prior drilling as a reason to reconsider the withdrawal.
- The agency has not issued a final decision and opponents say the shortened comment period and what they call limited government‑to‑government tribal consultation could prompt legal challenges or congressional intervention.