Chris,

This is a side affect of how the framework was designed.  The memory
utilization is higher than say a standard Win32 app because of the size of
framework assemblies.  The trade off here is that there are alot fewer
assemblies to worry about referencing than a typical win32 app, and because
of this you will notice your application size it quite small.  The only way
I think they could have reduced the memory footprint would be by splitting
the framework assemblies up further, then we'd all be in reference hell. :P
That said, if you using VS.NET to build you application, it defaults to
specific assembly references that you may not need afterall, with a bit of
trial and error you may find you can delete a reference and reduce your
memory foot print a bit.  Also, I've heard an obfuscator can reduce the foot
print slightly as well.

-Andrew
http://abaum.com/blog