The federal district court for the District of Wyoming granted a motion by the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and a number of environmental organizations to intervene to defend the Biden administration’s Resource Management Plan amendments that imposed a federal moratorium on new coal leasing in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and Wyoming. The court agreed with the proposed intervenors that their environmental and organizational concerns were “legally protectable” interests in the case, that disposition of the lawsuit would adversely affect their interests, and that the existing parties could not adequately protect the proposed intervenors’ interests. The court also concluded that the proposed intervenors did not have to demonstrate independent standing to intervene.

Lawsuit challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management 2024 Records of Decision and Approved Resource Management Plan Amendments for the Buffalo Field Office and Miles City Field Office that ended new federal coal leasing in the Powder River Basin.

Wyoming v. Burgum

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Wyoming Federal Court Let Tribe and Environmental Organizations Intervene to Defend Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium

Filed

United States of America

Wyoming

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Wyoming Federal Court Let Tribe and Environmental Organizations Intervene to Defend Federal Coal Leasing Moratorium

Policy instrument

Impacted group

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas