IIB 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2181 
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 
OCTOBER 31, 2019 
Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources 
AN ACT 
To provide for the withdrawal and protection of certain 
Federal land in the State of New Mexico. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chaco Cultural Herit-
age Area Protection Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) there are archeological, sacred, and historic 
resources located throughout the Greater Chaco re-
gion, which spans the States of New Mexico, Ari-
zona, Utah, and Colorado; 
(2) the Chaco Culture National Historical Park, 
a unit of the National Park System and a United 
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation World Heritage Site, is known around the 
world— 
(A) for multi-story buildings constructed 
by the Chacoan people that are still standing; 
and 
(B) as the nerve center of a culture that 
spread throughout and dominated the Four 
Corners area during the 9th, 10th, and 11th 
centuries; 
(3) the Chacoan people built hundreds of miles 
of roads and a network of villages, shrines, and com-
munications sites, many of which are still visible; 
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(4) many Pueblos and Indian Tribes in the 
Four Corners area claim cultural affiliation with, 
and are descended from, the Chacoan people; 
(5) the landscape around the Chaco Culture 
National Historical Park includes hundreds of inter-
nationally and nationally significant cultural re-
sources, including prehistoric roads, communities, 
and shrines— 
(A) many of which are related to the re-
sources found in the Chaco Culture National 
Historical Park, including the resources recog-
nized by the amendment made by section 3 of 
the Chacoan Outliers Protection Act of 1995 
(16 U.S.C. 410ii note; Public Law 104–11) 
providing for additional Chaco Culture Archeo-
logical Protection Sites; 
(B) a significant number of which are con-
centrated within the immediate area sur-
rounding the Chaco Culture National Historical 
Park; and 
(C) that are commonly recognized by ar-
cheologists; 
(6) long considered one of the best places for 
stargazing in the world, Chaco Culture National 
Historical Park— 
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(A) in 1991, established a night skies pro-
tection initiative and interpretive program to 
protect the night sky in the area of the Chaco 
Culture National Historical Park; and 
(B) in 2013, was certified as an Inter-
national Dark Sky Park; 
(7) the Greater Chaco landscape in the State of 
New Mexico extends beyond Chaco Culture National 
Historical Park and encompasses— 
(A) local communities, including Pueblos 
and Indian Tribes; and 
(B) public land, which includes additional 
cultural resources and sacred sites; 
(8) for over 110 years, the Federal Government 
has recognized the importance of the area in which 
the Chacoan people lived and has acted to protect 
historic and sacred sites in the area, including— 
(A) Chaco Canyon, which was designated 
as a National Monument in 1907 and as the 
Chaco Culture National Historical Park in 
1980; 
(B) the Aztec Ruins, which was designated 
as a National Monument in 1923 and expanded 
in each of 1928, 1930, 1948, and 1988; and 
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