Biden proposes 20-year ban on new oil drilling near Native American site in New Mexico

(CNN)President Joe Biden announced Monday a proposal for a 20-year ban on new oil and gas drilling near Chaco Canyon in northwest New Mexico -- one of the oldest Native American sites in the US -- White House officials said.

In the coming weeks, the Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management will start the agency process to effectively bar new oil and gas leasing on federal lands within a 10-mile radius around Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The park is one of just 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the country.

"Chaco Canyon is a sacred place that holds deep meaning for the Indigenous peoples whose ancestors lived, worked, and thrived in that high desert community," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. "Now is the time to consider more enduring protections for the living landscape that is Chaco, so that we can pass on this rich cultural legacy to future generations."

Haaland, the first Native American Secretary of the Interior, is from New Mexico. Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe.

Biden announced the action as he hosts a tribal nations summit meeting at the White House on Monday. The Biden administration's proposed drilling ban underscores key parts of the president's climate agenda, including environmental justice.

"These efforts, to use the word my dad would use so much, is a matter of dignity," Biden said Monday. "That's the foundation of our nation to nation partnership."

In addition, Biden announced his administration would work with tribes to "comprehensively incorporate tribal ecological knowledge" into the federal government's approach to combating climate change. Biden said his administration is the first to work with tribes in this way.

The process to bar new oil and gas drilling on the land will take time; the Bureau of Land Management said it plans to soon announce a notice in the Federal Register to kick off a two-year segregation of the federal lands around Chaco Canyon. During this time, the bureau will conduct environmental analysis while it also seeks public comment on the oil and gas ban.

Separately, the State of New Mexico Land Office has also put a ban on new state mineral leases within 10 miles of the historical park. Officials said the new federal proposal won't apply to individual Indian allotments or to minerals within the area owned by private, state and tribal entities.