The original agreement between Nevada (or any state) and the federal government bestows certain rights the state retains.
The federal government cannot ‘own’ land in a territory that is not a state. It can ‘administer’ and claim legal or territorial jurisdiction over a territory; but never ownership. When a state is incorporated the land jurisdiction is made a negotiated part of the agreement between the state and the federal government.
Your argument that the federal government ‘owned’ land in Nevada falls flat. The land was never bought from anyone and there was never any title to it.
The ranchers grazing on that land for generations were never encroaching on it. The federal land grabs came later and many of the grabs were driven by special interests.
We will see if the governor of Nevada decides to assert state rights and if he doesn’t, we will see what Congress does about it when the Nevada caucus gets revved up.
Actually, The USA won the war with Mexico and the treaty of guadelupe Hildago took the land including Nevada and paid Mexico $15 million for it. The government ownership of the land was the basis for the homestead policy where people were given land to occupy it.
The badlands were not homesteaded. I think the existing 150 acres actually owned night be land originally obtained by homesteading.
You are incorrect. The U.S. purchased that land from Mexico for $15 million in 1848 under the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. (See my post up-thread.) The U.S. owned the land before Nevada was a territory or a state.