Government agencies really don't like reversing course or admitting mistakes and will generally fight tooth and nail to avoid doing so unless ordered to by new management or a judge (don't get me wrong, private organizations do this too but they're much more apt to quietly make things right once it's clear they won't win in the court of public opinion).

So just by luck of the draw whatever bureaucrat came across Berman's map first thought to themselves "hey they can't do that" instead of "oh look, the public is building useful things on our work" and all the mechanisms used to fight a political turf war kicked into motion and once that happened there was no turning back.