It's more of a tragedy of the commons. The article's comment about wood really took me aback, because I'm part of a community that is currently having said trag

It's more of a tragedy of the commons. The article's comment about wood really took me aback, because I'm part of a community that is currently having said tragedy. We live in the UK, where forests are a lot rarer. We like camping in a forest by the sea, but it's become such a popular camping spot that people have completely stripped it of all fallen wood. This forest grows on particularly nutrient-poor land, so the forest rangers are begging people to leave the wood alone, as the rotting wood both feeds the soil and preserves local insect and plant ecosystems. Of course, this is what happens when you have a lovely small forest near a big city. The author lives out in the back of beyond where there presumably just aren't enough people that such a situation could happen. I think it's a good illustration that our natural attitudes towards public land might vary a lot depending on the population density and circumstances we live in.