07/29/2026
Did you know evidence of cacao use dating to 1,000 CE has been found in Chaco Canyon in NW New Mexico? Patricia Crown of the University of New Mexico and Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition analyzed chemical residues on ancient ceramics found at Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon in 1896 and found unmistakable traces of cacao.
But Chaco--a unit of the National Park System and a UNESCO World Heritage Site--is now under serious threat. Today, July 29, is the last day to comment on the Bureau of Land Management's plan to revoke the ten mile buffer zone around Chaco to allow oil, gas, and mineral development there. You can submit a comment opposing elimination of the 10-mile mineral withdrawal buffer zone around Chaco Culture National Historical Park at https://eplanning.blm.gov/Participate-Now/?id=c90512e3-9480-f111-ab0f-001dd8084607&ppid=D949F582-402D-F111-8341-001DD804183B
