Join us in protecting the public health, land, air, and water of the Rio Chama Watershed.
Submit Your Comments To the BLM Regarding their 2020 Resource Management Plan Amendment
How to Vote Safely and Easily in the November 3, 2020 General Election
We’ve prepared a voting guide to get you ready to cast your ballot.
R.A.C.C. Update
Due to the pandemic, the public portions of R.A.C.C’s monthly board meetings are cancelled until further notice.
Our bi-monthly newsletter and our facebook posts below will endeavor to keep you up to date and informed about Rio Chama Watershed and New Mexico fracking news. We are taking this time to build more educational resources into our website and invite you to check back with us as we build on that key portion of our mission statement.
Please feel free to contact us at info@rioarribaconcernedcitizens.com with any questions or concerns. We love our watershed community and hope for everyone’s safety during this pandemic.
Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens You have a say in the Resource Management Plan
You have a say on how our public lands are used. This is a big deal folks! A very dated Resource Management Plan (RMP) that was implemented in 2003 is finally being updated by the BLM. The decisions in this plan amendment affect us and our watershed as the plan appears to be geared for private oil and gas development, not multi-use public land planning. The 400-plus page draft amendment outlines a preferred alternative that would increase oil and gas activity in the Greater Chaco region and potentially on the Rio Chama Watershed’s western boundary.
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ONLY 3 Days Left! To submit comments to the BLM regarding the updated Resource Management Plan (RMP). Something we have been asking for, for years. You need not absorb the plan or all of the complex data to respond. The RACC website lays out the EASY process for you > 1) Briefly tell the BLM your stake in the health of the Rio Chama Watershed (landowner? you recreate, or have family residing here?) 2) Read our 3 sentence talking point - put into your own words 3) Place your comments above the San Juan Citizens Alliance data addressing Chaco issues already in the form letter 4) SEND!
10-20 minutes of your time could make all the difference. NOTE: we ONLY have until this Friday, September 25th, 5:00 p.m. to comment. PLEASE do NOT simply click and send the form letter, unaltered. The BLM will reject form letters with no added input. THANK YOU for your time - for caring about the Rio Chama Watershed and it's future!
Submit Your Comment to the BLM - Rio Arriba Concerned Citizens
www.rioarribaconcernedcitizens.com
Submit Your Comments To the BLM Regarding their 2020 Resource Management Plan Amendment Submit Your Comments Now to the BLMThis is a big deal folks! A very dated Resource Management Plan (RMP) that wa...We have until this up-incoming Friday, Sept. 25th, 5 p.m. to submit input. Let's not only speak up for our communities, but speak up for Chaco. Read on.
..."Relentlessly moving forward with its plan, the agency (edit: the BLM) admitted during the virtual meetings that it will fail to consider Tribal-led cultural studies as part of its planning process."
..."The absence of Navajo and Pueblo-led cultural resource inventories defies the intent of the $1 million dollar Congressional appropriation and related prohibition on drilling, depriving Tribes of their ability to protect culturally and historically significant areas before the fracking plan comes to fruition. "
OUR WEBSITE LINK WALKS YOU THROUGH (easily) THE COMMENT PROCESS. (please follow the instructions closely!)
www.rioarribaconcernedcitizens.com/letter-blm-2020/Greater Chaco Coalition Demands BLM Respect Tribes and Communities, Echoes Request to Postpone Drilling Plan
A coalition of tribal groups, non-profits, and businesses, part of the Greater Chaco Coalition, representing thousands of New Mexicans and millions of Americans sent a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt last week requesting an extension on the public comment period for the Farmington Mancos-Gallup draft Resource Management Plan Amendment to enable Tribal authorities and the public to meaningfully participate with in-person engagement without risk to health and safety.
Under the Trump Administration’s “Energy Dominance” agenda, the proposed plan would add between 2,300 and 3,100 new industrialized fracking wells in the Greater Chaco region, opening up nearly four million acres for drilling across communities and breaking its promise to protect the people and culture of the Greater Chaco Landscape.
The comment period for the drilling plan started on February 28, 2020, days before the COVID-19 stay at home orders were in place in New Mexico. On May 20, Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt extended the comment period after five “virtual” meetings proved grossly inadequate in reaching the public and impacted communities on the Navajo Nation and in Pueblos where broadband internet is extremely rare and many residents lack running water and electricity.
Adding insult to injury, the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Indian Affairs hosted four additional “virtual open houses” August 26-29. This public relations exercise showcased a 3:1 ratio of agency staff to Tribal and public participants. Humiliated during the previous virtual meetings, the agencies refused to make comments part of the official record, and chose not to broadcast or post these proceedings publicly despite receiving formal comments of protest from Navajo Nation and Pueblo community members and Tribal leadership, including Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.
Relentlessly moving forward with its plan, the agency admitted during the virtual meetings that it will fail to consider Tribal-led cultural studies as part of its planning process. The absence of Navajo and Pueblo-led cultural resource inventories defies the intent of the $1 million dollar Congressional appropriation and related prohibition on drilling, depriving Tribes of their ability to protect culturally and historically significant areas before the fracking plan comes to fruition.
One week before the extended comment deadline on September 25, 2020, circumstances have not improved. In fact, life has gotten more challenging for Tribes in New Mexico with school age children and youth staying home, nightly curfews, and weekend lockdowns on the Navajo Nation, which has seen the highest rates of coronavirus per capita in the U.S..
In response to compounding catastrophes, and with the comment deadline leering, the Greater Chaco Coalition echoes the calls of the Navajo Nation, All Pueblo Council of Governors , and New Mexico Congressional Delegation in calling on the Bureau of Land Management to indefinitely extend the public comment period until communities can meaningfully engage, and have stopped fighting for their lives.
Sustainable Good News Sunday takes us to Canada. A short video highlights the town of New Westminster, B.C., helping residents and businesses to save on their electricity costs by way of large community solar gardens. Next, news of exploration into the use of geothermal energy which naturally exist in many parts of Canada, especially the West. Then, a list of 11 countries and the stimulus packages they are enacting - as one International Energy Agency official stated - “governments have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reboot their economies, while accelerating the shift to a more resilient and cleaner energy future.” Finally, an opinion piece on public transit in Canada, post covid. Focusing on one key point - electrifying bus fleets is essential if Canada is to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century. Enjoy! (links in comments section)
New Westminster, B.C., is harvesting sunshine - Clean Energy Canada
cleanenergycanada.org
New Westminster, B.C., is harvesting sunshine and helping residents and businesses to save on their electricity with community solar gardens.