"BILLINGS, Mont. -- A U.S. judge has dealt another blow to the Trump administration's efforts to increase domestic oil and gas output from public lands, saying officials failed to protect habitat for a declining bird species when it issued energy leases on hundreds of square miles.

Judge Brian Morris said the Interior Department did not do enough to encourage development outside of areas with greater sage grouse, a ground-dwelling bird whose numbers have dropped dramatically in recent decades.

The judge canceled energy leases on more than 470 square miles of public land in Montana and Wyoming. That means officials will have to return millions of dollars in sales proceeds to companies that purchased the leases."

Matthew Brown reports for the Associated Press May 27, 2020. [2]

SEE ALSO:

"Scientists: Reworked BLM Plan Still Fails To Protect Sage Grouse" (WyoFile) [3]