BTW, when the 1.8 update rolls through, I'm tempted to try a deeper prune of the map. Somewhere I've seen a tools that will try to delete/regen any chunk that contains only natural resources. Any chunk containing zero torches, wood blocks, chests, etc. would be marked for removal. I'd love to give that a try on our world.
(If I can't find that tool or it doesn't work, I'm also tempted to write my own.)
So, if there are areas you would like to be included for regen with 1.8,
don't plant torches or build in them.
