Drilling

The sites are outside Nye along the Beartooth Front , where the company acquired 282 mining claims.

The commission has received nearly 66,000 applications for renewable drilling permits from oil and gas operators in the past three years.

American Petroleum Institute spokesman Reid Porter said the industry group was reviewing the report and had no immediate comment.

Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little says preserving sage grouse is best accomplished with a collaborative process.

A combination of horizontal and vertical wells would be drilled under the proposal.

Researchers plan to collect 3D seismic data later this year.

The judge did not block drilling statewide, but only ordered the BLM not allow drilling on 282 lease sites until it reconsiders its analyses.

A different group of landowners brought similar complaints that the commission denied last year.

Critics warned the changes could wipe out grouse colonies as drilling disrupts breeding grounds.

The wells would be drilled in an area covering some 220 square miles.