U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., told a Casper audience Monday about his plan to prevent groups from "venue shopping" when they file public lands lawsuits in U.S. District Court.

Groups venue shop when they file lawsuits in jurisdictions they think will be more favorable to their interests.

Thomas' bill would require lawsuits on agency action by the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States Forest Service and the National Park Service be heard by the district court "where the affected land is located."

"No one wants to keep people from going to court, but by God, we're in court all the time," Thomas said at the Casper Rotary Club.

He cited environmental groups that file lawsuits in courts they think will favor them. He said the 9th Circuit, which includes Montana and is considered to be liberal, is a favorite spot for filing lawsuits.

A press release last week said Thomas decided to pursue the a bill because Judge Emmet Sullivan of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., will not transfer a case on snowmobiling in Yellowstone National Park to a federal court in Wyoming. Thomas' bill would require the case to be transferred, the release states.

Chris Mehl of The Wilderness Society, a group that is a plaintiff in the Yellowstone case, said the bill goes against a long history of federalism.

"We've adopted a system where national issues are decided in national courts," he said.

In the snowmobile case, he noted, "the middle name of Yellowstone is 'National.'"

Mehl said the plaintiffs filed in Washington, D.C., because Sullivan has ruled on the Yellowstone snowmobile cases in 1997. The Washington court also has a more national perspective, Mehl said.

Erik Schlenker-Goodrich, an attorney with the Western Environmental Law Center, which filed suit in Montana over government studies of coalbed methane development in Wyoming and Montana, said the aim of Thomas' bill is "to reduce the ability of public interest groups to access the courts."

Thomas said he is currently the only sponsor of the bill and was hoping to find co-sponsors among Western senators.

He said he does not know whether the bill will be successful.