Hiking out of Dalton Lake in Idaho – Photo from Getty Images

A judge in Idaho put a stop to nearly 1 million acres of oil and gas leases on federal lands, after the Trump administration limited public input on the leases, the Washington Post reports. The ruling came in on February 27, after environmentalists challenged the leasing policy as part of an effort to stop drilling in greater sage-grouse habitat. The Trump administration lifted protections for the sage-grouse last March, in order to provide more leasing opportunities for oil, gas and mining industries, the Washington Post says. 

The ruling was made by U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Ronald E. Bush, who called the policy limiting public input “arbitrary and capricious.” That policy rolled out in January 2018, after the Bureau of Land Management sent out an instruction memorandum to “simplify and streamline the leasing process to alleviate unnecessary impediments