Apatschinn

Nick, thanks for doing the AMA! I would like to ask you if you were a professional scientist, what would you study?

This is a very good point. We geologists consider public lands (particularly those in the western states) to be indispensable. We map public land, we conduct research on public land, and we learn more about economic development from surveying public land. The thought of future generations being barred from these resources as a result of private ownership saddens me. There is simply no substitute.

There are a lot of quarries that end up as parks here in the US (I lived near one as a kid). One of the biggest problems though is that when you take "pristine wilderness" and extract resources from it you can never truly return it to what it once was. Mismanagement of public land will also result in degredation over time. You almost always lose more than you gain in terms of ecological health and biodiversity.

We have lost access to mapping areas before. Mostly it's to individuals. Although I've heard corporations are hit and miss, as some do not wish to garner the risk of liability. At least, that's how it was explained to me.