Thanks, airlocksniffer.
I guess my response would be this:
1. It is an impressive list *even if* it contains only companies that directly benefit from "public" lands.
2. Public does *not* mean no true ownership. It just means you have to *share* ownership; a concept foreign to some, I know, but true nonetheless.
3. Public ownership does *not* mean poor stewardship. A failure to share means poor stewardship, ala the Tragedy of the Commons. And, a *failure to fund* stewardship mean poor stewardship.
4. No one washes a rental car because *they don't own it*, and they paid to *borrow* it. Public land is *owned* by all and they pay to own it.
5. The government has been a wonderful steward of public lands. Compare the West with the East. Hell, go back East and compare Arlington National Cemetery with the nearest strip mall.
6. Private is only better for the *private* owner, like the 1%. Private is worse for the public.
7. If you share the desire to preserve our outdoor spaces then you should take an inventory of the outdoor spaces worth preserving, see who owns them, and adjust your fire. You will find the public owns the vast, overwhelming majority of the remaining places worth preserving. That's not to say no private land is worth preserving; just that it is not available to the public and it could be made worthless at the whim of the owner. Indeed, if it is worth preserving, the best method would be for the public to buy it. America's greatest captains of industry knew this. Duh.
I could do better but I'd have to put more thought in to it.
