Protest at Chaco Culture NHP exposes debate among Native Americans

The ongoing debate over oil and gas drilling around Chaco Canyon National Historic Park is going to be about fighting misinformation and not fighting one another, say the Diné activists whose celebration about a plan to protect the park turned into a contentious standoff last month with local Diné allottees who oppose the plan.

Interior Secretary Deb Haaland had announced her intention to withdraw more than 336,400 acres of land around Chaco Canyon from new oil and gas leasing for the next 20 years. She had intended to talk about the 10-mile buffer at an event on June 11, but before she made it to Chaco Canyon to meet with tribal and state officials, grassroots organizers and climate activists, chaos erupted at the road leading to the park's visitors center.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2023/07/08/federal-drilling-ban-chaco-canyon-park-arizona-stirs-debate-navajo-nation/70392205007/

Global PAs prevent huge amounts of carbon emissions, study says; more than 2x annual US total

If left unguarded, many of the world’s protected lands would have likely been burned, logged, or otherwise degraded, unleashing huge sums of heat-trapping gas.

Over the last two decades, these assaults would have yielded 9.65 billion tons of carbon, more than double U.S. fossil fuel emissions last year. That is the finding of a new study highlighting “the critical importance of protected areas to help mitigate climate change.”

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/protected-areas-carbon

Proposal to convert Chiricahua NMon to a NP draws mixed reactions

CHIRICAHUA NATIONAL MONUMENT — This crown of volcanic rock pinnacles rises above southeastern Arizona grasslands and oak-pine foothills, a largely unknown attraction far from the name-brand national parks that draw millions to the American West each year.

Now, there’s a plan to change its image by changing its name — and its status — from Chiricahua National Monument to Chiricahua National Park.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-environment/2023/07/07/arizona-politicians-seek-states-fourth-national-park-at-chiricahua/70350312007/