Internet guy wants to free USGS maps to "true public domain"

BoingBoing reader Seth says,

Jared Benedict is trying to get all the USGS public domain maps into the actual public domain so they are freely available for everyone to freely use. He's bought all the maps in digital form. Once he's recouped his costs they'll all be available via the Internet Archive.

Link to project info.

Update: wrexen sez, "The map data has been freed and is making its slow journey to the safe harbors of the Internet Archive!"