Is “Managing” Nature the Right Thing to Do, or Just an Excuse?

It never fails to weary me how interest groups reach for academic work as a drunk reaches for a lamppost, more for support than illumination. A paper appears, and before the ink is dry it is trimmed, polished, and made to serve a house creed. We have seen the trick befor ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/02/15/is-managing-nature-the-right-thing-to-do-or-just-an-excuse/

#GreatAytonMoor #NorthYorkMoors #GrouseManagement

Paradise Lost? The Noble Art of Swidden Burning

Ah, the noble swiddens! That iconic mosaic left by the beneficent, precise art of setting fire to the countryside, all for the good of its charming inhabitants: grouse—who, one imagines, must dance a jolly jig calling 'hahahahahaha' when those nutritious shoots emerge. How delightful to know that we can rely on a “low-temperature” burn, bare ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=36589

#GreatAytonMoor #NorthYorkMoors #ecology #GrouseManagement

Distress in Scugdale — the consequences of ladder traps

As I was wandering around the head of Scugdale, something caught my attention: a ladder trap filled with birds. Two crows were stuck inside, looking distressed, and my heart sank. Although they had water, shelter, and plenty of food (dead rabbits), they were trapped and unable to escape. Upon closer inspection, I realised that the trap was furthe ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=32069

#NorthYorkMoors #Scugdale #GrouseManagement