Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has asked a district court to shelve three large-scale plans that would open most federal lands in the state to oil and gas development, arguing they were invalidated when a federal court ruled the Trump administration’s top public lands official was serving illegally.

Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of the District of Montana ruled in late September that William Perry Pendley, the acting director of the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), had served unlawfully for more than a year and blocked him from continuing in the position. Bullock then filed the lawsuit against Pendley and Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.

Morris provided Interior officials and Bullock an opportunity to respond to the ruling. The court asked both to...