Rancher Cliven Bundy has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to rule that federally owned lands in Nevada are actually the property of the state.
The Nevada Independent reports that the suit also seeks to force the state and Clark County to defend Bundy’s land rights on his Bunkerville cattle ranch.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Clark County District Court by Nevada attorney Craig Mueller and Larry Klayman, a prominent right-wing activist lawyer and founder of the group Judicial Watch.
The suit also claims that President Barack Obama’s decision to designate the Gold Butte National Monument in December 2016 was illegal.
The lawsuit claims the land, which includes areas the Bundys use for cattle grazing, is owned by the state.
In a statement, environmental advocacy group Center for Biological Diversity’s Nevada state Director Patrick Donnelly said the lawsuit was Bundy’s attempt to turn the national monument area into his “personal fiefdom.”