Nolo, you really ought to read my previous post on this thread, it will enlighten you to the entire backstory on this situation, going all the way back to 1864 when Nevada was admitted into the union. What you fail to understand is that Bundy is right, it is not the federal government's land. You see, when a territory gains statehood, it does so on an equal footing with every other state, particularly the original thirteen states. In order to become a state, the US Congress at the time required that Nevada include in its Enabling Acts that it will disclaim all unappropriated land within its borders. This is a violation of the Doctrine of the Equality of the States and there is previous court precedent to back this up. See the Supreme Court ruling on https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/44/212/case.html Pollard's Lesse v. Hagan (1845). The power of eminent domain always passes to the newly formed states so when unappropriated land is finally appropriated, it is the state that exercises eminent domain and controls that land, not the federal government. When the Congress acts in violation of the US Constitution, as it did with Nevada, the Supreme Courts sees these actions as void and nonexistent. It is a shame that Nevada never challenged the requirement that they disclaim the unappropriated land in Nevada and give the power of eminent domain to the federal government. So, from a legal standpoint, that land belongs to Nevada, not the federal government.

Now that I have that out of the way, let me go ahead and counter your claim that Bundy doesn't have rights on that federal land. Bundy's ancestors purchased grazing rights from the federal government in 1887. You see, prior to the passage of the Taylor Grazing Act, ranchers let their livestock roam freely. It wasn't much of an issue at first because there was so much open land and so few ranchers. Well, as more ranchers grew their herds and located closer to other ranchers, range wars broke out with ranchers fighting each other over the open land. So, the simple solution was to purchase the right to graze a particular allotment. That gave him the right to graze that land at the exclusion of other ranchers. Just as you can purchase a mining claim, ranchers purchase grazing rights. Eventually, the Taylor Grazing Act led to the creation of the Bureau of Land MANAGEMENT. I emphasize management because they were supposed to manage the land for the benefit of the public and the people with rights and claims on the lands. To offset the cost of managing the lands, the BLM would charge a monthly fee per head of livestock. Since the BLM would be working to improve the land, Bundy was willing to pay and did so for quite a while. However, the BLM lost its way and started harassing the ranchers and kicking them off the land. So Bundy fired them and quit paying. Just as you might do if a service provider was no longer providing a service to you.

Next, I will address the adverse possession rights that Bundy has. You see, I know a little about this because I've actually held a Nevada Real Estate license in the past. Adverse possession is when someone occupies or uses the land in clear violation of the owner's wishes. For twenty years, Bundy has not paid the BLM and they have wanted him off that land but have not removed him. He is using that land for the purpose of grazing his cattle. This meets the definition of adverse possession in Nevada Real Estate Laws. Nevada requires 5 years for the adverse possession to be recognized as a valid claim of ownership. Bundy has been on the land for 20 years. If he were to file suit claiming ownership of the land in question, he would likely win. To his benefit would be the fact that the issue would be decided in Nevada state court and not a federal court. The only way it could go to federal court would be if Nevada's law regarding adverse possession was challenged on its constitutionality.

Finally, if you are making an argument that Bundy is a bad person for using that land without paying for it, I say that turnabout is fair play. You see, the federal government owns 86.7% of Nevada's public lands. They don't pay any property taxes on the land that they possess, which is unlike private ownership. Think about this for a second...Nevada gains no revenue from a vast portion of the land within its borders. The government makes use of much of that land but doesn't pay a dime. Under the US Constitution, the federal government can only acquire land with the consent of the state legislature and must pay for that land. Nevada never got the benefit of selling the 86.7% of its land for any profit. As a matter of fact, the federal government screwed Nevada even worse. Upon statehood, states typically get 2 sections of every township for the benefit of common schools. This is 3.9 million acres in Nevada. Well, the federal government wasn't getting around to doing a survey anytime soon so in 1880, Nevada had to exchange that 3.9 million acres for 2 million acres of public land of its choosing. Finally, for all the federal workers in Nevada, they use roads, infrastructure, send their kids to Nevada schools, etc., all without contributing property taxes. That makes the federal government a mooch on 86.7% of Nevada's lands.

So next time a few thousand people show up someplace pissed off at the government over something you don't agree with, perhaps you should try playing Devil's advocate and try to understand why they are so upset. You might learn something. Never take a side without considering both sides first.