A coalition of environmental groups has filed a lawsuit to jettison a federal plan that would allow oil and gas drilling on public lands in southwestern Colorado.

Gunnison Sage Grouse

The six western U.S. groups filed the lawsuit against the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in U.S. District Court in Denver. The plaintiffs claim that an expansion of oil and gas drilling on Colorado’s Western Slope ignores environmental threats and would endanger Gunnison sage grouse.

The BLM “failed to take a hard look at impacts affecting the survival and recovery of the threatened Gunnison sage grouse and its habitat” and “failed to define and take action to prevent unnecessary and undue degradation of the lands, particularly in the context of climate impacts,” the environmental...