Live data from Hacker News

American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

earthhope.substack.com

91–100 of 199 posts

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#91
post #87
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll tell you what, the Nordics themselves are pretty awful when compared with the Outback or American southwest. You can just roam wherever you want, no questions asked!

Try roaming through Area 51. Or White Sands.

I've heard it's great this time of year. Lots of cool stuff to look at.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words don't just have a single meaning. Definition 3 from Merriam-Webster[1] of "only": FEW I can say "one of the few", or "one of the only", and they both make perfect sense (and have the same meaning). You're being blindly prescriptive without even doing the legwork. 1: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/only

Yes and I'm sure Webster will also say[1] that literally is a synonym for figuratively, because of how people also like to destroy the meaning of that word, and descriptivists will forcefully (and ironically) prescribe indifference to that. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

This article claims the idiom predates Merriam-Webster.

https://grammarphobia.com/blog/2020/12/one-of-the-only.html

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#93

> one of the only That reminds me, I still have to put up the explanation at oneoftheonly.com for why this phrase doesn't make sense and is the new "could care less".

What is wrong with "could care less"? It is perfectly reasonable sarcasm.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#94
post #43

America needs more land that’s under stewardship of people who want to conserve it for the future. We’ve lost so much native biodiversity, but there’s still pockets that can revive it if managed appropriately.

In the early 80's, Congress passed some laws that allow people to buy undeveloped land, and declare it to be undeveloped for perpetuity (no one can develop on it even if sold). The owner gets some tax benefits from doing so. It became a niche segment in the real estate. The idea is you find land that is cheap, but you have a feeling it has mineral wealth. You buy it cheap, get the survey done, and show that it was re…

The problem is, what Congress can do, Congress and the Supreme Court can undo - and now you have a trove of pristine but already-surveyed land that can be exploited almost without risk.

It used to be unthinkable that the US government would outright cancel such things... with the current administration, legislation and justice system, it's not just not unthinkable but expected.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#95
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your objection to the use of 'only' to refer to multiple things, or specifically the phrase "one of the only"? Would you consider "I am only five minutes late" to be valid? (edit - for the record, this was in response to the first paragraph only, as the others were edited in afterwards)

My objection is in direct analogy to "could care less": it fails to rule out the very thing that is to be ruled out. The grains of sand example should make it clear: it is not true that this grain is one of few at the beach, but it is true that it's one of the only. This makes it a poor expression for scarcity, and while obviously we know what was actually intended (as with "could care less"), that doesn't really mak…

I'm trying to understand but struggling -- so it is specifically the phrase "one of the only" that bothers you, but the example of "only five minutes late" is acceptable? And the issue is that "only" in that context doesn't mean a singular item, but rather a group of ambiguous size?

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Words don't just have a single meaning. Definition 3 from Merriam-Webster[1] of "only": FEW I can say "one of the few", or "one of the only", and they both make perfect sense (and have the same meaning). You're being blindly prescriptive without even doing the legwork. 1: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/only

Yes and I'm sure Webster will also say[1] that literally is a synonym for figuratively, because of how people also like to destroy the meaning of that word, and descriptivists will forcefully (and ironically) prescribe indifference to that. [1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/literally

Words change. Meanings change. This has always happened an always will. If enough people are ironically using literally, even if unknowingly, then yeah, the meaning will change and we need things like dictionaries to describe this new meaning.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#97
post #43

America needs more land that’s under stewardship of people who want to conserve it for the future. We’ve lost so much native biodiversity, but there’s still pockets that can revive it if managed appropriately.

In the early 80's, Congress passed some laws that allow people to buy undeveloped land, and declare it to be undeveloped for perpetuity (no one can develop on it even if sold). The owner gets some tax benefits from doing so. It became a niche segment in the real estate. The idea is you find land that is cheap, but you have a feeling it has mineral wealth. You buy it cheap, get the survey done, and show that it was re…

I go back and forth on this. I love the idea of preserving land but this also seems to be a way for the wealthy to insulate their home eg buy 10 acres next to your house and declare it undeveloped. Now you get an amazing property in a pristine zone that nobody can touch all while getting a tax break you don’t need and boxing out the next generation.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#98
post #30
post #6

> The group bought the land from two billionaire Texas brothers who’d kept the public locked out of one of the only western access roads into adjacent public land, There's something uniquely evil about locking the public out of public lands. I'm looking at you, too, Vinod Khosla.

There's so much biased journalism that you really have to read things twice before using words like "evil". > locked out of ONE OF THE ONLY western access roads So not locked out. And accessible from all 4 orientations. (edit: lol, break the rules and downvote all you want. this site loves dishonest journalism if it confirms their wrong biases)

As far as I can tell from CalTopo, land north of the Missouri, east of Birch Creek, and west of Cow Creek was previously only accessible either via this private land or by approaching from the east and fording Cow Creek here: https://caltopo.com/map.html#ll=47.95479,-109.04672&z=18&b=i...

Anyways, yes, only locked out of the road, not the land.

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#99
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the early 80's, Congress passed some laws that allow people to buy undeveloped land, and declare it to be undeveloped for perpetuity (no one can develop on it even if sold). The owner gets some tax benefits from doing so. It became a niche segment in the real estate. The idea is you find land that is cheap, but you have a feeling it has mineral wealth. You buy it cheap, get the survey done, and show that it was re…

The problem is, what Congress can do, Congress and the Supreme Court can undo - and now you have a trove of pristine but already-surveyed land that can be exploited almost without risk. It used to be unthinkable that the US government would outright cancel such things... with the current administration, legislation and justice system, it's not just not unthinkable but expected .

[deleted]

Re: American Prairie unlocks another 70k acres in Montana

#100
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your objection to the use of 'only' to refer to multiple things, or specifically the phrase "one of the only"? Would you consider "I am only five minutes late" to be valid? (edit - for the record, this was in response to the first paragraph only, as the others were edited in afterwards)

My objection is in direct analogy to "could care less": it fails to rule out the very thing that is to be ruled out. The grains of sand example should make it clear: it is not true that this grain is one of few at the beach, but it is true that it's one of the only. This makes it a poor expression for scarcity, and while obviously we know what was actually intended (as with "could care less"), that doesn't really mak…

edit: this conversation is a waste of time. retracting my comment
Post reply on HN