FC, the future? local management?

[Charlieh]

I always take media reports with a pinch of salt but this story has been bounding about a lot recently, Ministers plan huge sell off of Britain's forests - Telegraph

 

Caroline Spelman, the Environment Secretary, is expected to announce plans within days to dispose of about half of the 748,000 hectares of woodland overseen by the Forestry Commission by 2020.

 

I was wondering if this anouncement was coming as their woods closest to my house, are currently having timber pulled out like crazy, i came past a felling operation the other day, trashed timber everywhere, snapped out tops, a real mess, hard woods and soft woods coming out in 6ft lenghts (hand felling) I just wonder if they are trying to get as much out and arent to worried about the mess if the site is going to be sold on?

 

Also what will this mean for woodland prices? could devalue assets, will they be split into sensible sized parcels? or sold in 10,000's ha blocks

 

Also I know the commission have always had a good handle on controling timber prices (and possibly keeping them low at times ) but if 300,000ha end up in private hands and the new owners decide to recoup some of their purchase costs by harvesting and marketing the timber, then i do wonder if this could actually be worse initally for timber prices? Although on the plus side, those of us doing woodland management and contractors may be able to pick up more work possibly

 

I dont know, these are just my rambling thoughts after being up half the night with a grumpy newborn

[Lorry thompson]

I've been doing a lot of thinking along these lines too charlie (must be my grumpy newborns keeping me up too:sneaky2:)

[slasherscot]

uk timber prices are dictated by Eastern European imports, Fc have no control over this, wood is an global commodity like grain, beef etc, if european prices are £100 cubic metre sawn delivered in, then Uk mills have to match it to stay in business. The trouble is they have better quality timber than we can grow.

 

The Fc have been selling off plantations over the past 20 years through goverment legislation, seems like the treasury need to claw back some money and cashing in some more woods. Theres money growing on them trees

[RichardT]

I doubt private buyers will be daft enough all to unload their newly acquired timber at once, they're investors. And it's not as if vast swathes of Sitka monoculture constitute a national landscape treasure.

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

I doubt private buyers will be daft enough all to unload their newly acquired timber at once, they're investors. And it's not as if vast swathes of Sitka monoculture constitute a national landscape treasure.

 

true, but once the land is out of the FC control, the profits will dictate and progressive bio diverse plantations will never get going:thumbdown:

[RichardT]

Well, diversity is a function of wider policy objectives and whatever funding mechanisms etc. are used to pursue them, it's not IMO a question of the FC being inherently more predisposed to sympathetic management than private landowners. Either a diversity 'premium' is paid to the FC directly, or via cross-subsidies from its amenity activities, or it goes in grants etc. to landowners. Economic incentives, either way.

 

Of course it depends what regulatory teeth are left to the FC (or another body...?).

[Quickthorn]

There's a 250 ac FC wood - mainly broadleaved - not so far from me that I've worked in. Parts of it are SSSI; the rest is coppiced in 1 ha blocks on a 20 yr rotation. It's a beautiful place, especially in spring (see photos). The only blight used to be the group who had permission to shoot. They constructed shanties of chicken wire, plastic sheet etc to hold pheasants, often tying wire directly around living trees, and left all manner of rammel around. Luckily, I never met them, because the FC got fed up with them and kicked them out, although we would see and talk to the odd one on occasion, and they always seemed to be hopeful that they would be back in one day.

 

If this particular wood goes up for sale, I can imagine 'local management' would mean that this particular group would get back in, either by buying the wood as a syndicate or buying the shooting rights from the new owner. We'll be back to chicken wire and rubbish strewn about the place again; any proper woodland management, apart from compulsory stuff to do with the SSSI, will cease. Such a shame really, and I'm sure this will be repeated up and down the country.

[RichardT]

You may be right. OTOH a shooting syndicate that's forked out good money to buy what sounds like a nice piece of high amenity value woodland might feel less inclined to turn it into a slum.

[Highland Forestry]

Looks like the forestry industry is safe for the next few years then... the FC selling off land will only benefit our industry as I see it.. although maybe not for the long term.

[ecolojim]

this is all assuming the land remains in the forestry field of use!