Biden admin sides against Native Americans in crackdown on oil leasing near Indigenous site

The Biden administration is expected to soon finalize a rule banning oil and gas leasing near a Native American historical site despite heavy opposition from local Indigenous leaders, who say the administration's rule would prevent them from collecting royalties on their land.

Nobody is destroying the park," Delora Hesuse, a Navajo Nation citizen who owns allotted land in the Greater Chaco region, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

Hesuse represents a group of Navajo citizens who own land that has been allotted to them by the federal government for generations and which is often leased to oil and gas drilling and exploration companies.

While the administration has stated the rule wouldn't impact Indian-owned allotments, blocking federal land leasing would ultimately block development on non-federal land, according to Hesuse and other local stakeholders including Navajo Nation leadership. .

"In reality, the rule would have a devastating impact because the indirect effects would make the allottee land worthless from the standpoint of energy extraction," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer wrotye in a letter to President Biden in November slamming the proposal.

"Due to the cross jurisdictional land status in Navajo Eastern Agency, a proposed horizontal lateral may need to cross federal land.".

Navajo Nation leaders and citizens have argued the Biden administration ignored them when moving ahead with the 20-year proposal.

There are currently 53 Indian allotments located in the so-called 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon, generating $6.2 million per year in royalties for an estimated 5,462 allottees, according to the Navajo Nation.

No help from the government, no help from the tribe," Jean Armenta, another Navajo citizen with allotted land, told Fox News Digital.

"Assistant Secretary Newland, BLM Director Stone-Manning and leadership from both of their teams have visited Navajo Nation multiple times to meet with allottees, Navajo leaders and community members," DOI spokesperson Melissa Schwartz told Fox News Digital

Despite this guidance, the administration hasn't publicly acknowledged the proposed five-mile buffer zone compromise proposed by the Navajo Nation Council

"This administration talks a good talk about consulting with the tribes," Kathleen Sgamma, the president of the Western Energy Alliance, told Fox News Digital in an interview

"When you have the federal government infringing on Navajo property owners, it's hard to say that this administration is committed to environmental justice."

There are currently 53 Indian allotments located in the so-called 10-mile buffer zone around Chaco Canyon, generating $6.2 million per year in royalties for an estimated 5,462 allottees, according to the Navajo Nation

Overall, New Mexico is among the most fossil fuel-rich states in the nation — it produced the second-most crude oil and was a top-ten natural gas producer last year, according to the Energy Information Administration

Yvette Herrell, R-N.M., told Fox News Digital in a statement