U.S. Department of the Interior

Lawsuit challenges U.S. over conservation leases on public land

A new Interior Department rule allowing conservation leases on public land "is flatly inconsistent" with federal land management laws, said a dozen farming, petroleum, mining, electric power, and timber groups in a lawsuit filed in U.S. district court in Wyoming. The lawsuit is one of the first to be filed against a federal regulation since the Supreme Court decision in late June that reduced the leeway given to agencies to interpret the law.