Where this becomes a two headed snake is who's name is on the deed, so many of these "ranchers" consider land that they lease is "their land", instead of "Americans land".
After ranching BLM for many years, and knowing the full gamut of ranchers that did likewise, I never actually ran across one that thought of the land as "theirs". (some were good guys. Some I couldn't stand. Most treated the land and managed it well.)
I have however shared the knowledge that when you pay for the grazing permit per animal unit and pay the annual lease, then you do indeed own the grazing rights.
Those grazing rights can be bought, sold, traded or bartered and have a real value very comparable to deeded land.
