State and Industry Challenges to Public Lands Rule
Current Status:
Active
Date Filed:
Jul 25, 2024
Case Title:
States of Utah and Wyoming v. Deb Haaland, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, Conservation Lands Foundation, and The Wilderness Society
Staff attorney(s):
Todd Tucci
Sarah Stellberg
Andrew Hursh
Client(s):
To Protect:
Health Landscapes
Wildlife Habitat
Clean Water
States:Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Case Information:
October 1, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners at Conservation Lands Foundation, The Wilderness Society, and Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance filed a motion to intervene to defend BLM’s Public Lands Rule against yet another lawsuit brought this past summer by the American Farm Bureau and other industry trade associations representing the oil and gas and mining industries.
September 30, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners at Conservation Lands Foundation and The Wilderness Society filed a motion to intervene to defend BLM’s Public Lands Rule in another lawsuit brought this past summer by the State of Alaska in Alaska federal district court.
September 19, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners filed a motion to intervene in a second lawsuit brought this past summer by the States of North Dakota, Idaho, and Montana in North Dakota federal district court challenging the implementation of BLM’s Public Lands Rule.
The conservation groups—including Conservation Lands Foundation, The Wilderness Society, and the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA), and represented by Advocates for the West and Kaplan Kirsch LLP—filed a motion to intervene in July in a lawsuit files by the States of Utah and Wyoming challenging the Public Lands Rule, which went into effect in June after a year-long process to engage the public in its development.
July 25, 2024 — Advocates for the West and our partners filed a motion to intervene in federal court to defend the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) recently finalized Public Lands Rule. The motion comes in response to a case and motion for preliminary injunction filed by the States of Utah and Wyoming that seeks to prevent the BLM from implementing the rule. We are representing the Conservation Lands Foundation in the intervention, which was filed together with the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and The Wilderness Society.
The Public Lands Rule went into effect in June 2024 after a year-long process to engage the public in its development. Conservation groups celebrated the finalization of the rule, which was overwhelmingly supported during the comment period. Among other things, the rule reiterates that conservation is part of the BLM’s multiple-use mission and ensures that the agency will manage for this use on a day-in and day-out basis. The rule establishes a “… framework to ensure healthy landscapes, abundant wildlife habitat, clean water, and balanced decision-making on our nation’s public lands.”
On June 18, 2024, the States of Utah and Wyoming filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Utah over the recently finalized Public Lands Rule. Federal lawsuits have also been filed by the States of North Dakota, Idaho, and Montana in North Dakota, and industry groups have filed a third action in Wyoming.
