The National Trust for Historic Preservation unveiled its 2026 list of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places on May 20, 2026, honoring the upcoming 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding and New Mexico’s Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape is on the list.
The areas around Chaco Canyon are an ancestral homeland and ceremonial space that Pueblo and Hopi people have sustained for over a millennium. While the core canyon remains protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, the broader living landscape spans thousands of square miles across northwestern New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah. In information provided to nm.news, National Trust PR Assistant Trey Heller stated that a fragmented management approach leaves the majority of this landscape highly vulnerable to industrial development. The organization identifies this as a threat after President Trump’s administration initiated a process in 2025 to fully revoke Public Land Order No. 7923, a 2023 directive issued by then-Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland under President Joe Biden that banned new mineral leasing and mining claims on public lands surrounding the protected park boundaries.
According to the National Trust, preserving the cultural integrity of Greater Chaco will require permanent protections, coordinated land-use planning and stronger tribal consultation. The organization notes that community members can participate by asking their congressional representatives to support the Chaco Culture Heritage Areas Protection Act. By opposing policies that rescind the 2023 leasing ban, advocates hope to establish a sustainable model for Indigenous-led stewardship that prevents irreversible damage to these spaces.
For more information on the endangered listing and the Chaco Culture Heritage Areas Protection Act, residents can visit savingplaces.org/11most.
According to a press release, the announcement highlights at-risk sites tied to historical struggles for equality and to the founding-era principle that all people are created equal. To bolster local advocacy and kickstart urgent stabilization work, the National Trust is awarding a one-time grant of $25,000 to each of the 11 selected sites.
Noah Gollin contributed to this story.