Uploaded May 2022 | Updated September 2026, 18 minutes ago
Update: On November 4, 2023, at its 46th annual ceremony, the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded an Emmy to the short documentary film “Protecting Chaco’s 10-Mile Zone,” produced by Archaeology Southwest and David Wallace Visuals. The category was Historical/Cultural Content. It is Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and filmmaker David Wallace’s tenth Emmy. Preservation Archaeologist Paul Reed spearheaded the project, and Istara Freedom provided production assistance.
The film showcases Tribal leaders’ broad support for protecting public lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park. In their own words, Pueblo leaders Chairman Mark Mitchell (All Pueblo Council of Governors and former Governor of Tesuque Pueblo), Governor Michael Chavarria (Santa Clara Pueblo), Governor Randall Vicente (Acoma Pueblo), cultural leader Octavius Seowtewa (Zuni Pueblo), former Vice-Chairman Clark Wayne Tenakhongva (Hopi), and Diné conservation leader Reyaun Francisco, speak to the living and vital connections their communities have to the Greater Chaco Landscape.
The threat of oil and gas drilling continues to loom over Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the ancestral home to both the Pueblo and Navajo peoples. Tribal communities have fought for decades to protect the Greater Chaco Landscape and its cultural resources and safeguard the health of their families from nearby drilling.
At the start of 2022, the Department of the Interior initiated a process to administratively withdraw roughly 351,000 acres of federal lands and minerals surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from future oil and gas leasing for a period of 20 years. Now, the Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments on the withdrawal until May 6th, 2022.
Archaeologist Paul Reed and leaders and representatives from the Acoma Pueblo, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Santa Clara Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, and Zuni Pueblo, who are featured in this film, underscore the broad support for the Biden administration to #ProtectChaco by finalizing it's proposal to withdraw federal lands surrounding Chaco from oil and gas leasing.
Update: On November 4, 2023, at its 46th annual ceremony, the Rocky Mountain Southwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded an Emmy to the short documentary film “Protecting Chaco’s 10-Mile Zone,” produced by Archaeology Southwest and David Wallace Visuals. The category was Historical/Cultural Content. It is Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and filmmaker David Wallace’s tenth Emmy. Preservation Archaeologist Paul Reed spearheaded the project, and Istara Freedom provided production assistance.
The film showcases Tribal leaders’ broad support for protecting public lands surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park. In their own words, Pueblo leaders Chairman Mark Mitchell (All Pueblo Council of Governors and former Governor of Tesuque Pueblo), Governor Michael Chavarria (Santa Clara Pueblo), Governor Randall Vicente (Acoma Pueblo), cultural leader Octavius Seowtewa (Zuni Pueblo), former Vice-Chairman Clark Wayne Tenakhongva (Hopi), and Diné conservation leader Reyaun Francisco, speak to the living and vital connections their communities have to the Greater Chaco Landscape.
The threat of oil and gas drilling continues to loom over Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the ancestral home to both the Pueblo and Navajo peoples. Tribal communities have fought for decades to protect the Greater Chaco Landscape and its cultural resources and safeguard the health of their families from nearby drilling.
At the start of 2022, the Department of the Interior initiated a process to administratively withdraw roughly 351,000 acres of federal lands and minerals surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park from future oil and gas leasing for a period of 20 years. Now, the Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments on the withdrawal until May 6th, 2022.
Archaeologist Paul Reed and leaders and representatives from the Acoma Pueblo, Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, Santa Clara Pueblo, Tesuque Pueblo, and Zuni Pueblo, who are featured in this film, underscore the broad support for the Biden administration to #ProtectChaco by finalizing it's proposal to withdraw federal lands surrounding Chaco from oil and gas leasing.
