He’d likely lose, but that doesn’t mean laws are right or correct. I’d suspect many if not most of the ranchers do not agree with the government and agree with Bundy, but the other ranchers pay the fees as to avoid the harassment.
It’s a financial windfall for government to get income for actually doing next to nothing.
The desert shrubs and plants were there way before the US was ever a country. The government does not water the desert shrubs. The government does not pay for fertilizers for the shrubs. The government does not pay for the sunshine to grow the grassy shrubs. The desert shrubs naturally grow back year after year and century after century despite being eaten by cows. The government has no overhead to pay for as the land custodian. No, the whole thing is an easy money maker for the government bureaucrats to spend as they see fit. This country was built on the premise of honest men working in government, which is no where near happening (see Harry Reid) in the hear and now.
The government does not pay to have the rancher’s cattle collect, concentrate and distribute food and water to the tortoises across the desert.