The vast majority of Ohio was owned by the federal government in 1787.
16 years later, it became a state and most of the land had transitioned to private hands.
By 1815, federal holdings in Ohio were minimal.
If Nevada had followed that rate of progress, 90% of NV land would have been in private hands by 1900.
Yet, these federal lands could be homesteaded up until 1976. Until Congress enacted FLPMA in 1976.
Why didn't Bundy homestead or buy more land. If he does that, he has to pay property tax. Instead, he had the grazing lease with grazing fees much lower than on private land. And historically, the feds didn't impose requirements.
It is only after FLPMA that management became multi-use and the science of conservation biology kicked in. No more overgrazing. If an endangered species is around, it also has to be managed.
So it is now multi-use. There are places to hunt, ride ATVs, they have built huge numbers of camping sites since 1976. Archeologists and biologists get to use the land. Miners use the land. They mine coal, they drill for oil and gas.
Back in 1976 there were no areas of environmental concern covering zero acres. In 2000 there over 800 such sites covering over 14 million acres. In 1976 there were 4350 BLM employee and around 10,000 in 2000
Things changed, but Congress enacted the legislation to make the changes.