The Trump administration is initiating formal meetings with Native American tribes in the southwestern U.S. as it considers revoking a 20-year ban of oil and gas development across of hundreds of square miles of federal land surrounding Chaco Culture National Historical Park.

The Bureau of Land Management made the announcement in a letter sent to tribal leaders last Thursday, saying the agency will conduct an environmental assessment of the proposal to put the federal parcels back on the board for future leasing. A public comment period will follow.

The UNESCO World Heritage site has been at the center of a fight over drilling for years, having spanned multiple presidential administrations. Within park boundaries are the towering remains of stone structures built centuries ago by the region’s first inhabitants, and ancient roads and related sites are scattered farther out across the desert plains and sandstone canyons.

With the urging of some pueblo leaders, former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2023 issued an order banning new oil and gas development for two decades within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of the historic site in northwestern New Mexico.