## Facts

- Mountain States Legal Foundation sued the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture over federal handling of oil and gas leasing in the Shoshone, Targhee, and Bridger-Teton National Forests.
- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers federal mineral leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act (MLA), while the U.S. Forest Service manages surface resources in national forests and provides leasing recommendations to BLM under an inter-agency arrangement.
- In 1985, a Forest Service regional official asked BLM to suspend or delay leasing in the Bridger-Teton National Forest until completion of an environmental impact statement or forest plan.
- BLM complied and suspended leasing, and similar delays affected leasing decisions in other identified national forests.
- The Foundation alleged the suspension and delays unlawfully prevented leasing, operated as a land “withdrawal” without required procedures, conflicted with federal energy policy statutes, and reflected an improper delegation of Interior’s leasing authority.
- The parties filed cross-motions for summary judgment based on the administrative record.

## Issues

1. Whether the suspension and delays in processing oil and gas leases constituted a “withdrawal” of lands requiring compliance with withdrawal procedures under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA).
2. Whether the suspension and delays violated the Energy Security Act by improperly impeding domestic energy development.
3. Whether Interior unlawfully or unconstitutionally delegated MLA leasing authority to the Forest Service through an arrangement giving the Forest Service a decision-influencing role.
4. Whether the suspension and delays were arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise unlawful under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), including as unreasonable delay.

## Decision

- The court granted summary judgment for the defendants and denied the Foundation’s requests for declaratory and injunctive relief.
- The court held the temporary suspension and delays did not constitute a FLPMA “withdrawal” and therefore did not trigger FLPMA withdrawal procedures.
- The court found no violation of the Energy Security Act or the MLA arising from the deferral of leasing decisions during ongoing environmental review and planning.
- The court upheld Interior–Forest Service coordination, concluding Interior retained final leasing authority and the Forest Service role was advisory and resource-protective.
- Under the APA, the court concluded the agencies acted within their discretion and provided a rational basis for deferring leasing pending completion of planning and environmental review.

## Legal Principles

- A temporary, planning-related deferral of leasing decisions pending environmental review or land-use planning may differ from a FLPMA “withdrawal” that formally removes lands from operation of the public land laws.
- The MLA generally confers broad discretion on the Secretary of the Interior whether and when to issue federal oil and gas leases; an application does not create an entitlement to a lease.
- General energy-development policy statements do not, without specific statutory commands, eliminate agency discretion to time leasing decisions in light of environmental review and land-management responsibilities.
- Inter-agency consultation in which the Forest Service recommends conditions to protect surface resources, while Interior/BLM retains final leasing authority, is a permissible administrative arrangement.
- Under APA review, an agency’s decision to defer action may be sustained when grounded in ongoing environmental analysis and coordinated planning and supported by a rational explanation consistent with governing statutes.

## Conclusion

The court upheld the federal agencies’ temporary suspension and delay of oil and gas leasing in specified national forests, ruling it was not a FLPMA withdrawal, did not violate the MLA or Energy Security Act, and was not arbitrary or unlawful under the APA.


Mountain States Legal Found. v. Hodel, 668 F. Supp. 1466 (D. Wyo. 1987)