Government took ranchers’ land for conservation now bulldozing it for new housing

Pam Johnson’s family did everything by the book. They paid nearly $50,000 for a grazing permit that was supposed to last 99 years. They followed government orders, sold their cattle, and gave up their livelihood—all in the name of protecting the endangered desert tortoise. But now, bulldozers are tearing through that same land to make way for homes, hotels, and retail stores. The so-called “protected habitat” was apparently only off-limits to ranchers, not developers with deep pockets.

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