Churros and Chainsaws in the Chuskas: An Ethno-Environmental History of the Navajo Forest

Churros and Chainsaws in the Chuskas is an ethno-environmental history of the Navajo Nation's 500,000- acre ponderosa pine forest. This history is based upon seven years of archival and field research. The impetus for the book was the mysterious death of Navajo environmental activist Leroy Jackson in 1993. Jackson led Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment (CARE) in its fight to stop the Bureau of Indian Affairs and its allies within the Navajo Nation's government from using the sacred Chuska Mountains for industrial timber harvesting. The story begins with the circumstances surrounding Jackson's death but moves back in time to Ancestral Puebloans' use of the Chuskas' forests in constructing Chaco Canyon. Also included are chapters about the influence of Spanish/Mexican agropastoralism upon the Navajo Forest, and an in- depth analysis of federal policies in the forest following Stock Reduction and World War Two.