Montana asks court to throw out major public lands decisions after ousting BLM director

The state of Montana is asking the courts to throw out some major Bureau of Land Management (BLM) decisions after a federal judge ousted the agency’s acting director from his post. Interior argues, however, argued that former BLM acting head William Perry Pendley took “no relevant acts” to be thrown out by the court during his tenure. A Montana-based U.S. District Court judge ruled last month that Pendley "served unlawfully ... for 424 days," giving the Department of the Interior 10 days to justify why it shouldn’t throw out many of the decisions Pendley has made during his tenure. In a filing late Monday, Montana argued the court should toss some of the biggest land management plans Pendley has overseen, which open up hundreds of thousands of acres to oil and gas drilling. Montana argues other states could make similar claims, opening the door to undoing plans in other states. “Although the plaintiffs limit their present request to the Montana resource management plans and plan amendment for which there is unassailable evidence of Pendley’s unlawful involvement, the plaintiffs do not intend to suggest that other actions should not be similarly set aside where a proper party can identify and challenge them,” Montana wrote in its brief...MORE