Trump pardoning the Hammonds.
Father and son went on federal property and used it as they owned it for profit. Not leasing from the government. Just using it, period. They defended their "right" to use the property militarily and unlawfully.
I haven't seen this legal issue raised, so I will. Adverse possession. 20 years of peaceful and uninterrupted trespassing and the transfer of land from federal government to a person or persons is done. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/43/1068
The game plan was to use the land, expect the Hammonds wouldn't be evicted, and then after 20 years, they could claim that land as theirs, without paying a cent in sale. Not to mention the land wasn't for sale to begin with.
The Hammonds were the poster children for any federal land grab around the country. The Dept of the Interior would be inundated with these like-minded trespassers that there would be an attrition of federal land as these individuals would claim that land as theirs now (or in the future).
And Trump pardoning them doesn't make their actions legal. But it does send a signal to go ahead and claim federal land as there won't be penalty and punishment -- and eviction to thwart their efforts.
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