It is my understanding that Bundy's land consists of 160 acres. If that is true, then that is the same amount of land that was allowed when land was granted in the 1800s. As other FReepers here have pointed out, in the Nevada desert environment, 160 acres is not even enough land to sustain one cow for an entire year, much less a herd. Talk about doing damage to the environment! Putting that many cattle in such a small space would destroy it. That is why these grazing lands were established in the first place. Everyone keeps saying, "He should have kept the herd on his own property!" In that case, there would not be a single rancher left in the entire state of Nevada because they've not been able to buy up that much land - the state owns it! Over the years, the Fed has moved in, claimed ownership and gradually made all these ranchers trespassers.
I expect the administration to go balls-to-the-wall with the media and all online news site, commenters, even here on FR to paint Bundy as a psycho, "tea bagging" nut job. (This is already in progress.) Once they drive this meme hard enough to turn the LoFo Voters against Bundy, then they will move in to try and finish him. It's up to all of us to get the word out. Hit your social media. Hit all the news sites. Get your message straight and be clear. Don't engage in tit-for-tat with the idiots out there whose purpose is to drive us off message.
Bundy will be the new Emmanuel Goldstein.
Good points. The federal government has always owned the land. What has changed is how it has been manage and that process has become very anti-rancher.