Judge dismisses ranchers' suit on oil and gas rights on BLM land

The lawsuit was filed in late 2004 by Linn and Tweeti Blancett, sixth-generation ranchers who graze cattle on 32,000 acres of mostly federal land.

U.S. District Judge John Bates wrote in a March 20 ruling that the Washington, D.C., court did not have jurisdiction in the case.

The Blancetts argued that the BLM failed to enforce the Taylor Grazing Act and the agency's own regulations by not properly enforcing oil and gas operators who had leased more than 400 wells on the same federal land where their cattle grazed, according to a copy of the ruling obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

The Blancetts said they were forced to sell all but 15 of their cattle because of loss of feed due to the oil and gas drill sites, pipeline and road construction, spills, water pollution and harassment of livestock.

The BLM has "completely destroyed our sixth-generation ranch by (its) inability to manage things," Tweeti Blancett said April 14.

Federal laws lack a specific mandate for the BLM that the court could enforce, but rather require the agency to use its own discretion in how it handles competing interests, Bates wrote.

BLM spokesman Hans Stuart of New Mexico said the decision was "pretty cut-and-dried. The (Department of Justice) argued that the court did not have jurisdiction, and the court agreed."

In general, BLM lands are multiple-use areas that encompass grazing, recreation, wildlife habitat and oil and gas development, Stuart said.

"There are a lot of factors we have to balance," he said.

The San Juan Basin, where the Blancett ranch is located, produces about 10 percent of the nation's natural gas and is the No. 1 supplier to California.

There are 20,000 active gas wells in the area, and the BLM plans to add 10,000 more wells over the next two decades, Stuart said.

Bates dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, which allows the Blancetts to appeal, which Tweeti Blancett said they intend to do.

Date: 4/20/06

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