Western Watersheds Project v. Deb Haaland

FOR PUBLICATION

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT

WESTERN WATERSHEDS PROJECT; No. 20-35780

CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY,

Plaintiffs-Appellees, D.C. No. 1:18-cv-00187- v. REB

DEB HAALAND, Secretary of Interior; BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, an OPINION agency of the United States, Defendants,

STATE OF WYOMING; WESTERN

ENERGY ALLIANCE,

Intervenor-Defendants,

v.

CHESAPEAKE EXPLORATION, L.L.C.,

Movant-Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Idaho Ronald E. Bush, Magistrate Judge, Presiding

Argued and Submitted September 28, 2021 Seattle, Washington

Filed January 5, 2022 Before: Ronald M. Gould, Richard R. Clifton, and Eric D. Miller, Circuit Judges.

Opinion by Judge Clifton

SUMMARY *

Intervention

The panel reversed the district court’s order denying Chesapeake Exploration, LLC’s motion to intervene as of right in an action brought by plaintiff environmental groups alleging that the federal government unlawfully issued oil and gas leases on federal land, and remanded with instructions to the district court to enter an order granting the motion.

On May…