9th Circuit blocks oil lease sales in sage grouse habitat

By Niina H. Farah | 01/21/2025 06:56 AM EST

A divided panel of judges found that lower courts had mostly gotten it right when they found Interior unlawfully leased public lands in Western states.

Two male sage grouse in snow.

The decision is a long-awaited win for conservation groups, led by the Western Watersheds Project and Montana Wildlife Federation, which have fought for years to shield the near-threatened greater sage grouse (pictured) from fossil fuel development David Zalubowski/AP

A federal appeals court has largely upheld rulings that blocked the Interior Department’s oil and gas lease sales on public lands within protected greater sage grouse habitat.

The 9th U.S. Court of Appeals found in a split decision Friday that federal district courts in Idaho and Montana had mostly gotten it right when they found Interior’s Bureau of Land Management violated federal law when the agency offered the public lands lease sales in Western states.

At the same time, the 9th Circuit ruled that one court had gone too far by tossing out thousands of leases from five disputed sales.

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Both sides of the case claimed wins from Friday’s decision.

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