ALBUQUERQUE — Federal lawmakers held a series of events Friday to highlight how federal layoffs have impacted public lands and urge the Trump administration to reverse course on plans to allow drilling near Chaco Canyon.

"Mr. President, you once said that leadership is measured by what we choose to protect," Picuris Pueblo Lt. Gov. Craig Quanchello said at a news conference. "Today, we are asking you to protect a place older than the idea of America itself."

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich hosted the Friday morning public lands roundtable, and he was joined at an afternoon news conference on Chaco Canyon by Sen. Ben Ray Luján and Rep. Melanie Stansbury. The three Democrats were joined by pueblo leaders who oppose oil and gas drilling at what they regard as a sacred site where their ancestors l

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