Sleddale tree removal

[A McLee]

Renton Charman asked on Twitter why trees had been recently felled on the open moorland valley of Sleddale. The custodians of the countryside use this technique to deprive corvids and raptors of vantage points to check for nesting behaviour , grouse in this case. ( At Saltholme tall bushes have been removed over the years to assist waders' nest protection from corvids).
Conversation with my NYMNP contact, revealed that no felling licence had been sought from the F C , but then one was not required if the volume of felled timber did not exceed 5 m cubed in a 3 month period. Felling of some trees had been seen and photographed several months ago there, too. It is thus fairly obvious how the system can be manipulated, to further denude extraneous vegetation from the local grouse farms. At the very least these trees were significant in the context of landscape.
Ali McLee   4/11/21