Shell spokesman Tracy Boyd said the company will likely file for a permit to work on its research lease within the next year.

Ritter has said research should continue without moving ahead with a plan for commercial development. BLM officials, though, have said they took longer to complete the plan and regulations than mandated by the 2005 federal energy bill.

In October, Foster Wade, deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals, said individual projects still would go through at least two rounds of environmental reviews, and more than 40 federal, state and local agencies would be involved in issuing permits.

The Center for Biological Diversity's Thrailkill said the problem is the courts have ruled that the intent of the federal Endangered Species Act is to identify problems and solutions as early as possible.

"I think it's going to be more difficult for the government to say 'no"' later, she said.