The Montana judge who threw out more than 1.5 million acres of Wyoming oil and gas leases in June over sage-grouse habitat concerns has declined to let the Trump administration and the state take a newer environmental challenge to a Wyoming judge instead.
In a case environmental groups filed against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management this year — again in Montana — the state of Wyoming asked U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris to dismiss the issues pertaining to the case or send them to a federal court in Wyoming.
The Montana Wildlife Federation, The Wilderness Society and the Defenders of Wildlife argue in their lawsuit against the BLM, which Wyoming has joined in opposition, that the BLM’s “permissive approach” to oil and gas development is out of step with sage-grouse environmental science.
The BLM asked Morris in a hearing last month to send the whole case to Wyoming. The federal agency argued, in part, that the more southerly state’s federal courts are less congested, and the agency manages between two to three times more sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming than Montana.
The Wyoming Attorney General’s office also argued that Montana wasn’t the proper venue for decisions pertaining to the Cowboy State’s oil and gas leasing.
“The Court recognizes that Wyoming has a strong interest in having its localized controversies decided at home,” wrote Morris in a July 29 order.
He acknowledged the state’s keen interest in the oil and gas economy, and its efforts to conserve sage-grouse.
But that’s not enough to switch the case southward, Morris wrote.
“Wyoming provides no authority, however, to support the contention that its interests in oil and gas extraction, or its concentrated efforts on sage-grouse management, should outweigh Plaintiffs’ choice of forum,” said Morris, referencing the environmental groups choosing to file the case in his court.
Morris’ June 12 order in an environmental groups’ 2018 case had blocked the oil and gas leases, sold under the Trump administration, due to sage-grouse habitat concerns.
Wyoming attorneys said it would force the state to return $50 million in payments and imperil $180 million in future revenue for schools and other services.
This case is ongoing.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
