Rewilding grouse moors would be better than them being used as playgrounds for the rich - Yorkshire Post Letters

I note your article printed in Farming Opinion of June 22 and also the very same sort of comments in an article the week before supporting shooting and field sports.

It would be extremely interesting to understand where some of the figures actually came from i.e. creation of 67,000 jobs? What? How many gamekeepers and local traders benefit from a few extremely well off people coming and shooting on grouse moors each year really?

A £3.3bn contribution to the local community, again would be interesting to understand how these figures were obtained. It's fine printing these sorts of figures from lobby groups who have vested interests in keeping the shoots going but let's have the figures behind the headlines to back up these claims.

A few facts about grouse moors. About 555,000 acres of England is grouse moor, these grouse moors have a serious effect on our landscape, sometimes burnt to encourage the young grouse to prosper. The impact on the moors in many people's view is devastating.

I just question what sort of conservation work Duncan Thomas is talking about in his article of June 22 (Farming Opinion, The Yorkshire Post ). Studies by Leeds University say that grouse moors can dry out the underlying peat, possibly lead to carbon loss and even worse can lead to flooding. Residents of Hebden Bridge live close to the Walshaw Moor, a grouse shoot. In 2015 disaster struck Hebden bridge, all the rain simply ended up in people’s homes.

Gamekeepers try to create a habitat for the grouse to prosper, this means predators like foxes are destroyed. This provides excellent conditions for the birds.

Almost half of grouse moors are owned by old money, the rest by very wealthy businessmen. The Duke of Devonshire owns a large grouse moor nr Bolton Abbey, the others are owned by Saudi princes and wealthy businessmen. I also believe the King owns a grouse moor.

Obviously a great deal of grouse moor owners are Conservative donors and members of the House of Lords, clearly why the Conservatives have not done anything about this.

Let's hope the new Government looks at rewilding our uplands, removing any tax advantages to owning these moors (are they exempt inheritance tax like other farm land? If so, why?).

Grouse moors received about £4m in annual farm subsidies in 2014. Should the taxpayer subsidise such an elite sport?

How about rewilding these moors, open them up to the general public to enjoy not just an elite few.