The feds claim that Bundy owes them roughly $1 million in “grazing fees” that have gone unpaid since 1993. They also say that he’s stubbornly ignored a 1998 court order to remove his cattle from public land set aside for the preservation of the desert tortoise, a creature that federal officials apparently value more than they do cattle ranchers.
According to statistics from 2012, the US federal government claims ownership of 81% of Nevada’s land. The feds refer to such areas of conquest as “public lands.” We are told that “the people” own them, which must be the reason why the people are forbidden from owning them.
