Under Nevada law the desert tortoise, since it was on the endangered species list, came under protected status IN NEVADA as early as 1991 and probably back to 1987, as I already noted. Available statuses for all reptiles were: game, unprotected, protected AND they had to be in one of the classifications.
I had already double checked.
Well we all know this is not about the desert tortoise and its not about grazing fees. Its about a man who finally got fed up with being pushed around by an overbearing and out of control US govt. He is doing the unthinkable and the totally unacceptable thing of pushing back.
Unless you have personally experienced the full intimidation of the US govt you have no idea how much courage it takes to face them down.