Environmental groups call for BLM to create comprehensive leasing plan

CHACO CANYO — A group of environmentalists are calling for the Bureau of Land Management to compose a comprehensive leasing plan for the lower San Juan Basin in areas near Chaco Canyon National Historic Park. "We're not against oil and gas drilling, but it has to be done properly," said Bruce Gordon, president of EcoFLight, during a flight over the park and its surroundings on Monday morning. The Partnership for Responsible Business and the New Mexico Green Chamber of Commerce organized the flyover tour that included one tribal leader and a handful of journalists. "The biggest thing is the landscape," said Keenan King, who works with the Partnership for Responsible Business. Barbara West, a former Chaco Canyon park superintendent, and Mike Eisenfeld, with the San Juan Citizens Alliance, flew above the park on Sunday evening. They were interviewed after the flight in Farmington on Monday. The group agreed that the BLM needed to create a "Master Leasing Plan" that would take into consideration keeping the park largely unspoiled for visitors...more