A coalition of ranchers, environmentalists and other disgruntled landowners is claiming a small victory in its long-shot battle to block a hefty pipeline planned to carry natural gas beneath 143 miles of largely untouched Big Bend-area land into Mexico. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said this week it plans to ask Energy Transfer Partners the Dallas-based company planning the pipeline for more proof that Texas, rather than the federal government, should regulate most of the project.