Why moors fire spread so quickly
From: Richard Bailey, moorland gamekeeper, Peak District Moorland Group, Buxton, Derbyshire.
I AM writing to correct some of the claims made by Brian Morland in his letter “Wrong to suggest wildfires are preventable” (The Yorkshire Post, January 16).
While it is true the 2018 Saddleworth moor fire was arson, it is vital we recognise the misguided land-management policies which directly contributed to its severity and the speed at which it spread.
Moorland gamekeepers have traditionally managed parts of Saddleworth moor with controlled burning, which ensures the heather coverage is uneven and of varying ages, which reduces the fuel load.
It is not a coincidence that the 2018 fire was started in the long rank heather which grew in an area where a no-burn policy was in place.
As one of the many moorland keepers who helped tackle the fire, I can tell you that had traditional uneven heather coverage been in place, with subsequent reduced fuel loads, the severity and damage would have been vastly reduced.
The historical land management practice known as “heather or muir burn” has been well practised by the Peak District Moorland Group for centuries. These “cool” nondamaging burns are at a polar opposite to a “hot” wildfire.
To suggest all wildfires are absolutely preventable is obviously ludicrous but there is evidence from Australia and the UK that controlled burning is an extremely effective tool in helping to combat them.
From: George Winn-Darley, Aldby Park, Buttercrambe, York.
LUKE Steele is being deliberately misleading about the reasons behind heather burning and the work gamekeepers do on our moorland (The Yorkshire Post, January 17).
A key reason for the managed burning of heather is to prevent wildfires. Climate change has lengthened the fire season in many countries through increased production of vegetation, through both warming and higher precipitation, which has led to higher fuel loads.
As wildfires in Australia and California have demonstrated, it is vital these fuel loads are kept under control.
When Caithness’s Flow Country caught fire recently it was estimated it doubled Scotland’s carbon emissions for the six days it burned and the fire brigade subsequently blamed allowing moors to become overgrown.
Restoration burning also removes dense heather canopies, enabling moorland managers to inoculate the soil with sphagnum moss plug plants (as requested by Mr Steele) which protect the fragile peat and slow the water flow across the surface, mitigating against flash flooding.
Much work is already being done to maintain and improve the state of our moorland, much of it by gamekeepers.
At least 42,000 hectares of peatland restoration has taken place on grouse moors, including revegetation of bare eroding peat and blocking up thousands of ill-advised and Governmentincentivised drainage ditches.
It would be good if Mr Steele could at least acknowledge the good work done by gamekeepers.