I’ve read one article in which the man claimed his family had had access to that land back to the late 1800’s. Any idea if that’s true?
According to Bundy’s daughter on FB her gr-grandpa paid for pre-emptive rights to the land in 1887. He then sold those rights to his son and he gave them to Bundy.
The BLM was paid grazing fees to help him manage the land but they stopped using the fees for management and started using it to buy up the other lands. Bundy refused to sell and basically fired them. He tried to pay fees to Clark County but they refused.
Bundy used his own equipment, labor and money to manage the land over the years...no tax dollars! He has been to court to defend his actions and as the BLM has tax money to spend they kept after him. Lastly, they have used the protected species act to get his land.
I think his basic claim to graze on the land is that it’s between him and the State of Nevada...not the Feds business. I agree.