The BLM and the rest of the JBTs in the government employ are coming back. How we respond to that will be the watershed moment.
It doesn't matter how much time... It doesn't matter for legal twists and turns... Anyone who thinks this will turn out any different from here on in doesn't understand what happens when rednecks hit 'oh, hell no!' territory. That Bundy Ranch will stay put now (to include every bit of range that he owns the water on) pretty much forever.
Them cowboys ain't gonna back up no more. Not one inch. Force will be met with force, even if there is no chance of winning. This isn't about law anymore. It is about right and wrong. They won't be convinced otherwise, no matter what. Nor their sons, nor their grandsons.
The only thing the feds can do is leave it alone... Completely alone... And hope folks forget about it enough that they can set their precedents some other way. Do anything else, and those cowboys will back their word.... and if they do and get stepped on, I bet Nevadans will too - and maybe the Desert Southwest... Make a big enough stink and the Rockies will rise up too - I guarantee it.
Push has come to shove, and now there ain't no backing down, whether the feds and all y'all know it or not.