My contention in regard to the Bundy case all along has been that the Fed Gov is just tightening it’s grip on public lands. Think about it. Almost since the time of the Louisiana Purchase most of the land has been almost worthless. Sure folks have made fortunes in mining and ranching but the value per acre for scores and scores of years has been “dirt”.
In recent years that value has started to rise for a number of different reasons. One other thing to rise has been public debt. IMHO, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to draw a straight line from one to the other. Since public land is what is the security on public debt, clear title has to be established. When that land largely had little value no one cared that ranchers eked out a minimal living on it. When it had little value and was pretty hard to get to no one cared what miners did.
The states out west are going to have a hard time wresting rights to it from the Fed Gov, IMHO.
Instead of gold our money should be pegged to land.
Makes sense, for years you could get approval for improvements on BLM lands, they were actually encouraged but not since Obama.