A federal appeals court has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service overstepped its authority when it imposed a ban on oil and gas drilling in the 512,000-acre Allegheny National Forest.

The 1911 law that established the forest gives the government rights only to the surface while preserving access to the land for owners of privately held mineral rights, a unanimous three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found.