I read a story once about a spacefaring fellow who had a (mostly) ocean planet he would visit for vacation time. Being the rugged fellow that he was, he enjoyed his freedom on this lifeless, yet scenic world. The story catches up with him as he discovers a green slime creeping up out of the water onto the rocks, and the rage that grips him as he pounds and grinds it into paste, thinking to himself how the rules say that if life is discovered on a planet, it becomes off-limits in order to allow that life to develop however it unfolds. I think it's called "The Invader" or something like that.I find it abominable, but I also don't blame him. If the government had found out, his ranch would have been turned into protected land and he wouldn't have even gotten market rate for it. It LITERALLY would have thrown him out onto the streets.
--Patrick