Dadnatron, I believe you are definitely asking advice from the wrong people. You should pose your question directly to the Bureau of Land Management.
Your relatives may have owned it way back when, but it is now owned and managed by our Department of Interior.
MossRoad said it best in his first comment on this thread.
Edit: I see I am way late to enter upon this topic, however I still stand by my comment.
You might consider contacting your congressman or senator. Could be something they could pull a few strings and make it legit.
Doug in SW IA