If reaource exploration and extraction WERE a rational argument that it's a danger to a heritage site.
Which it's not, an absurd assertion; a red herring.
But even if it were, bye bye Chaco. The well being of 300,000,000 fellow citizens is more important than making a few national pets feel good about themselves.
Perhaps expanding the list a bit to enviornmental issues.
Chaco Canyon is a wonderful place. I'd recommend a visit. Worthy of protection. Which is why it's a National Historical Park.
Of course the article isn't about the National Historical Park. It isn't about the expansion of the National Historical Park, else it would have advocated that.
It's about stopping the production of energy outside the park.
Note my post 3, it’s not about the park. Rather about the trails/roads that anyone might have taken over the last millenia getting to what is not the park. Within a dozen miles or so. The industry will be able to cope with that, they’ll preserve the roads and decorate them with wind chimes if necessary.
-——Which it’s not,——
What is your evidence for that statement?
I would argue it has no basis in fact and is a knee jerk reaction.
You can, on the contrary, see with your own eyes that the gas wells are in fact proliferating in the area described. This is especially true in the north around Aztec and Salmon ruins.
I know you won’t, but that doesn’t mean you can’t, study the area from Chaco along the Anasazi north road to Aztec. Then look at the area north of Aztec and Salmon and actually see the intense ,and It is really intense, network of gas wells, gas lines and roads that cover the area. The study can be made in a half hour or so on Google Earth which allows you to see all the major sites and the gas and city developments.
The importance of the vast area involved in the Chaco civilization is increasing as new sites are discovered and studied. The society lived over a vast area that is not really defined. To inhibit knowledge of the great American culture that was on the Colorado plateau would be a very bad thing. At present we are just beginning to realize that there was great effort and substantial construction over a vast area. We have not yet fit the pieces together to understand why.
To destroy the scant and scattered evidence is unforgivable..
There is very strong precedent.
We are learning more about a second great society in the nearby Phoenix Basin. The development of Phoenix covered over many sites and the knowledge is lost. I do not advocate the non construction of Phoenix but advocate learning from the process. Knowledge lost can never be reclaimed.
The same is true of the development of East St Louis that covered and destroyed much of the greatest of American cities now known as Cahokia. The remaining mound is the largest man made structure in North America.