All Pueblo Council of Governors
New Mexico-based advocacy body representing 20 Pueblo Nations, leading a 2025-2026 campaign to permanently protect the Greater Chaco region from oil and gas leasing.
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- Location
- Albuquerque, New Mexico
- Country
- United States
- Represents
- 20 Pueblo Nations in New Mexico and one in Texas
- Leadership (conflicting reports, 2026)
- Native News Online refers to James R. Mountain as "Chairman"; High Country News, covering the same mid-2026 period, refers to Joey Sanchez as council "chair." This profile does not resolve the discrepancy (see Open items).
- Focus of current campaign
- Legislation to permanently withdraw the Greater Chaco region from future oil and gas leasing, protecting a 10-mile buffer around Chaco Canyon
Overview
The All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) is an Albuquerque-based body representing 20 Pueblo Nations in New Mexico and one in Texas. Through 2025 and 2026 it has led a sustained public campaign to permanently protect the Greater Chaco region — including Chaco Canyon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site sacred to the Pueblo peoples — from future oil and gas leasing, pressing for a permanent 10-mile protective buffer around the canyon (Native News Online).
The Chaco Canyon campaign
Native News Online identifies James R. Mountain as the council’s “Chairman,” framing the renewed legislative push as the product of “countless meetings, cultural resource studies, and tireless advocacy,” with the reintroduced protective bill backed by Senator Ben Ray Luján, Representative Teresa Leger Fernández and the broader New Mexico Congressional Delegation (Native News Online). At a Capitol news conference in July 2026, High Country News identifies Joey Sanchez as council “chair,” reporting his frustration at the Interior Department’s response: “We asked for a meeting, but we never got it. I don’t know if you’re here in town, but you know we’re here. We’re ready to be with you. We ask you to come and visit,” referring to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum (High Country News). The two sources’ leadership titles for the same mid-2026 period are not reconciled here; this profile reports each attribution as its respective source states it rather than asserting a single uncontested titleholder.
What this profile does not claim
Neither source read here establishes the council’s founding date or broader institutional history; this profile is limited to its documented role in the 2025-2026 Chaco Canyon protection campaign rather than a full organizational history. Nor does this profile assert a single, uncontested chair or chairman of the council: High Country News and Native News Online name different people (Joey Sanchez and James R. Mountain, respectively) in overlapping 2026 coverage, and that conflict is flagged rather than resolved.
Timeline
- 2025-2026
- Leads a sustained public advocacy campaign, including a Washington, D.C. mission and multiple New Mexico press events, pushing to permanently protect Chaco Canyon (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the surrounding Greater Chaco region from oil and gas extraction.
- 2026 (mid-year)
- James R. Mountain, identified by Native News Online as the council's "Chairman," credits the renewed legislative push to "countless meetings, cultural resource studies, and tireless advocacy," with the reintroduced bill backed by Senator Ben Ray Luján, Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, and the wider New Mexico Congressional Delegation.
- 2026-07
- At a Capitol news conference, Joey Sanchez — identified by High Country News as council "chair" — criticizes Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's lack of engagement on the issue, saying "we asked for a meeting, but we never got it." (High Country News and Native News Online do not agree on who holds the council's top title in this period; see Open items.)
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The council's own founding date and organizational history were not independently confirmed by either source read here; both cover its current advocacy role rather than its institutional history.
- Leadership title is unreconciled across sources: High Country News refers to Joey Sanchez as council "chair," while Native News Online refers to James R. Mountain as "Chairman" of the same body in the same mid-2026 timeframe. Both attributions are reported here, with their respective sources, rather than asserting either as the uncontested current title-holder.
Sources
2 sources (2 tier 2), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Every source is independent of the subject; no first-party material is cited. See the source policy.
Both sources were fetched and read in full. High Country News is an independent, widely respected regional journalism outlet covering the Western United States; Native News Online is an independent outlet covering Native American affairs. Neither is affiliated with the council.
- Pueblo leaders, New Mexico lawmakers speak out to protect Chaco Canyon Supports: The council's role in the Chaco Canyon advocacy campaign and chair Joey Sanchez's on-record criticism of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum's lack of engagement.
- All Pueblo Council of Governors Applauds Reintroduction of Legislation to Protect Chaco Canyon Supports: The council's membership (20 Pueblos in New Mexico plus one in Texas), chairman James R. Mountain, the specific legislative aim (withdrawing the Greater Chaco region from oil and gas leasing), and the bill's congressional backers.
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