Never mind the tragedy of the commons - Here's an example of the tregedy of Private ownership

[YankeyMCC]

of land that is valued by the community.

Protesters plant saplings to save forest

(snip)
CONCORD -- Deep in a forest of oak and pine, where Henry David Thoreau once contemplated nature, a man in a tri-corner hat yesterday pitched a shovel into the mud. Then he lowered a pine sapling into the freshly dug earth. He was standing in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by yellow caution tape. Nearby, there were two bulldozers, two backhoes, and a dump truck.
Article Tools

"This will grow really well," said the man, Ned Kelley. "Until they mow it down."

The planting was the latest and perhaps most desperate chapter in a 15-year battle over the future of the Estabrook Woods, a quiet forest that inspired some 160 journal entries by Thoreau. Middlesex School, which owns much of the land, has cleared aside legal challenges, local opposition, protesting alumni, and trees, to build eight tennis courts here. Now, it is on the last leg of its expansion, building two soccer fields in the clearing where Kelley planted his sapling as a protest.
(snip)

(snip)
James Saltonstall, the school's assistant headmaster for finance and operations, who came out to survey the site just before the protesters arrived, said Middlesex needs to build the best sports facilities for its students, and he described the location, a few hundred yards from campus, as ideal. About 11 acres will be used for the construction, he said.
(snip)

(snip)
Before the planting, the opponents had tried other tactics. Last year, Tsongas camped in a tree across from the headmaster's house for 36 hours.

Activists also gathered 1,000 signatures from Concord residents opposed to the project. A Middlesex parent offered $5 million to endow an environmental studies program, if Middlesex would save the woods. Others filed a lawsuit arguing that the project would harm native species such as the blue spotted salamander and spotted turtle. Though the case held up construction for more than a decade, it ultimately failed.
(snip)

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/29/protesters_plant_saplings_to_save_forest/

As Ms Tsongas says: "This is not something the community is calling for, It's quite the opposite. So why are they going forward?"

Unfortunately the answer is - Because they can.