Four states with the most prolific natural gas production on public lands have asked to intervene in a lawsuit against the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in defense of a recent oil and gas lease sale.

Montana, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming have filed a petition to join the lawsuit brought by a coalition of environmental groups against the BLM after it executed a lease sale in June.

The sale, which consisted mostly of parcels in Wyoming, was notably one of the few initiated by the BLM since the Biden administration initiated a pause to oil and gas development on public lands.

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Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon called the lawsuit a sign...