The Bureau of Land Management has pulled more than 332,000 acres from a November 12 oil and gas lease auction in western Nevada in response to a court order blocking Trump administration plans.
The Center for Biological Diversity says the acreage in Ely's Field Office roughly corresponds to key areas designated for elevated sage grouse conservation in a federal sage grouse plan completed for Nevada and northeastern California in 2015.
That plan specified that BLM must prioritize oil and gas leasing and drilling projects outside designated sage grouse habitats.