Science on heather burning is far from clear

MY North Yorkshire Moors Association colleague Tom Chadwick is correct that there are conflicting views on the issue of heather burning (The Yorkshire Post, March 31). This is to be expected as the science and evidence on the subject is far from clear.

The one thing we can guarantee is that an outright ban on heather burning will lead to thousands of tonnes of new biomass building up in high fire risk zones, as many sites have no sustainable alternative management technique.

Wildfire mitigation is a hidden public service performed for free by land managers. Only two per cent of the North York Moors is deep peat and all grouse estates signed up to the voluntary commitment not to burn those anyway, so the issue of rotational burning is not applicable here.

Cutting is not a silver bullet because it requires heavy machinery which burn fossil fuels, cannot be used on stony, steep or boggy ground, and are not welcome on sensitive archaeological sites.

The North York Moors have more historical and archaeologically interesting sites than any other part of the country discounting cutting as a solution. It is worth noting that the knowledge, experience and specialist equipment that the moorland estates hold is crucial for front-line wildfire fighting.

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James Mitchinson

Editor