“More than 50 political leaders from nine states convened for the first time to talk about their joint goal: wresting control of oil-, timber -and mineral-rich lands away from the feds...”
What “wrest”? Just kick them the hell off the land.
Evidently the local authorities were either not adequately prepared or inclined to “kick them the hell off the land”.
SeeSharp’s point on the long standing legal doctrine of “adverse possession” seems to have overwhelming weight in the rancher’s favor re his rights to the land in question.