[Fear The People]

And the fact that the tortoise is not even an endangered species anymore and if that was the underlying cause of locking up the desert land, why have they not since backed off?

Exactly.

Not my image, because it's not exactly accurate.
The USA did not set off hundreds of nukes in that desert, it set off over 1000 - some 1100 nuclear weapons were detonated just outside of vegas and now they're all hot and bothered about some cows.

[mabarker1]

Time Lapse of Nuclear Explosions