10th Circuit dismisses NM grassland appeal as moot The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver has dismissed an appeal of oil and gas leases in south-central New Mexico as moot since the leases no longer exist. A three-judge panel, in a decision Tuesday, said the termination of the leases in Luna County on the Nutt Grasslands left the court with no case and "no meaningful grounds for relief." It sent the case back to federal court in New Mexico with instructions to dismiss it. The Bureau of Land Management sold the oil and gas leases in contention to Imperial Oil Properties of Wichita, Kan., in January 2003. The New Mexico Wilderness Alliance had asked that areas be withdrawn from the sale, arguing that leases could harm the wilderness value of the grasslands. The alliance alleged the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not doing certain analyses. The BLM rejected the protest in 2003, saying an environmental impact statement prepared for the 1993 Mimbres resource management plan satisfied the requirement. The Wilderness Alliance, the Chihuahuan Grasslands Alliance and the Sky Island Alliance went to federal court in October 2004, contending the agency violated NEPA and failed to assess the environmental consequences of leasing....