The Culling Culture

One of the reasons that it's a good idea to take public land like Blacka and Burbage out of the sphere of influence of farm management is the mindset of the farming and conservation industries. Both see it as their inalienable right to tell nature what to do not just on  a few fields but across expanses of our remoter uplands including much public land. They choose what is allowed to live and what has to die. That goes for animals, birds and plants. Only those permitted are given licence to thrive under strict conditions. To maintain this dominance and avoid losing their command and control role over our landscape the landowning and managing classes go in for absurd scaremongering which nevertheless some sections of the gullible public actually swallow; along the lines of landscape and environmental disaster befalling if their privileged management is not subsidised to the extent of coming close to overwhelming the whole European budget.
In today's Observer is an interesting article and debate on the impending badger cull. One of the better informed commenters below the article says this:

"It is about time that farming subsidies were the next thing subjected to scrutiny like the Banking industry, the media, and MPs expenses. This is because we have a system where very wealthy big landowning farmers, who are accumulating wealth, receive massive subsidies. However, despite these massive subsidies, which make the biggest benefit payouts pale into insignificance, the people receiving these massive payments are incredibly arrogant, and do not feel the slightest bit indebted to the public at large who pay them these needless huge sums of money. If David Cameron wants to see the real culture of entitlement at work, he should look to his own big landowning chums who receive obscene subsidy payments for no particularly good reason.
So the fact that these arrogant people think they have the right to massacre "our" wildlife, because they are entitled to, as its "their" land - is the pinnacle of conceit, arrogance, hubris and a deluded sense of entitlement.
It's about time this was all out in the open, and Defra stopped abusing it's public role to conceal from the public how much these large landowners receive from the public purse. Because if the public knew about the details they would be outraged.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1360998/Wealthy-minister-earns-2m-EU-farm-subsidies-department-tried-cover-up.html
So my advice to all those that want to stop this cull is to work hard on exposing the huge amounts of public subsidy paid to some of Britain's wealthiest landowners. Before anyone tries to get clever, I am aware that not every farmer is super wealthy, but my point is that it is these wealthy larger landowners who have been pulling the strings behind the scenes to enable this Badger cull. This will be the comeuppance they deserve, when the shit storm engulfing the Bankers descends on them."

So the message is slowly getting across.

Farmers and Grouse Shooters Still in Charge

It's possible that there are those who are still wondering why we have such perverse management of our uplands and such dishonest claims made by public agencies such as Natural England that it's all done for conservation reasons. You just have to look at who is employed by Natural England and ask which vested interests they come from and try to please. This article brings confirmation.

Ian Fugler the new N.E. Director of Land Manager for Northern England "will be heading up Natural England’s land management work in the north and across the English uplands. Ian married into a northern farming family and now lives on a small upland farm near Brampton in Cumbria with his wife and two sons."

He says "I want to ensure that Natural England strengthens its working relationships with those who own and actively manage the uplands, by providing them with clarity on our role and remit. If they’re going to be successful and support a viable business, then the programmes and schemes we develop in the uplands must reflect the needs of well managed moorlands and good husbandry within the farm business, as well as delivering conservation objectives and public benefits".

So I wonder which conservation objectives and public benefits Mr Fugler might consider we have gained from the browning of our green site here? But I doubt he would come along to see because like others in N.E. he will be prioritising his role in keeping on good terms with the wealthy toffs who keep and own and shoot on the grouse moors.

50 Shades of Conservation Grazing

A new publication specially for fans of conservation grazing, in particular Sheffield Wildlife Trust:

50 Shades of Grey Brown.   There's a lot of green about what with all the rain we've had. But SWT have sent in their troops to remedy that undesirable situation. I've even seen them referred to as 'eco-warriors' by the hypers of the conservation industry. Anyway the thing is that we mustn't have too much green about. It designates the place as being in 'unfavourable condition'.

So bring them on because what goes in green comes out brown and there's no better indication that a place is in 'unfavourable recovering condition' than that there's lots of brown about. This post only shows the first tranch of the 50 but space is limited (even on Blacka Moor).

Variations

Something about the damp and closed-in weather makes one look curiously at common things near at hand. The occasional white foxglove is to be expected but the availability of cultivars for gardens means we're used to seeing variety. Out here it's more of a novelty.

Has anyone ever thought to do a study of the markings inside the foxglove flower? Are those on the same plant more likely to be similar? Is it possible to find two identical? Could a method be devised for analysing the patterns? Anyone bored with watching raindrops trail down a window pane may be tempted to have a go.

It is a rainy day, after all.

Brownfield Site

This part of Blacka has now become a brownfield site. As a description that may have no relevance to the normal planning definition but it's hard to argue with it when you actually see it.

A gate onto what was a few weeks ago a green pathway with natural greenery to either side has become a depository for cattle induced mud and brown excrement. Already the cows have returned to their habit of previous years of spending much time around gateways. Not far away another feature is the patches of barren and eroding brown peat where poison was applied killing the vegetation cover that once grew there.

What kind of mentality accepts and even encourages the management that results in the degraded browning of a prime green space? And what kind of impoverished vision in the political establishment grants it public money coming from taxation encouraging this institutional ugliness? And where are the people calling out "scandal"?

Part of the explanation has be that the mentality is one that's becomes frozen in an uncritical mindset, a kind of inertia that is these days nurtured by sham ideology stating that cultural landscapes (i.e. exploited and farmed landscapes) have to be imposed everywhere even when it is known that these very farmed landscapes have led to the decline in the variety of wildlife throughout the country and a a similar decline in landscape value across much of the nation's farmland.

So let us be unequivocal: the local conservation industry's chosen colour is not the purple they always predictably choose to show in their publicity pictures (only visible for a few weeks in a good year). It is the brown that colours the monoculture sheep-grazed heather moors and hillsides for month after month when other places may be lucky enough to have trees changing with each season. It's the brown of mud, the erosion and cow splats that are there because of their obsessive addiction to conservation grazing and the Common Agricultural Policy funds that result from turning recreation land into farm land.

The green path is now a trail of faeces and the area around the access gate has been transformed into a typical farm gate mudbath. Brown is indeed the defining colour of conservation grazing and agri-environment schemes.

No wonder that an unauthorised sign has appeared on the gate. A comment not just on the ground on the other side of the gate but also the content of the notice from SWT trying vainly to justify their discredited policy?

It's worth remembering that Blacka Moor is subject to a Countryside Stewardship Agreement between Sheffield Wildlife Trust and Natural England running for ten years and ending in September this year. Considerable sums of public money have been used on this, supposedly to ensure that the land is well managed and delivers 'public goods'. A fair bit of the focus on the need for this CSA was about specifically this part of the land and the 'need' for cattle grazing which ia a key element. For our investment it's only fair to expect to see something that's an improvement on what it was like before. Ten years is not too short a period for the public to see benefits. Instead it is undeniably a great deal worse. I defy anyone who walked this way ten years ago and remembers what it was like to return today and say it's better.

Natural England took on the old Countryside Agency in 2006 adopting its role of helping "everyone, wherever they live and whatever their background to enjoy the countryside and share in this priceless asset more". Well we know the places we know and visit regularly. The advantage of getting to know one thing and one place really well - something this blog has tried to do - means you're in a better position than most to evaluate the result of work done here using our public money. But will anyone in any official position listen?

Friends of Blacka Moor

News from Friends of Blacka Moor. Their website is down at the moment and apologies are due to those who have tried to access it in recent weeks. The problem is that the website hosting service has been discontinued. A new website is currently being designed before launching sometime in the not too distant future. The opportunity is being taken to improve the site and bring it up to date.  I've removed the link from the sidebar until the new site is available.
Watch this space

Digital Enhancement

This photograph has had mild digital enhancement like much photography today.

Bracken clumps like this one are enhanced more by Digitalis, the common foxglove, the flower that can grow almost anywhere but with a special love for acid soils like those here. Common it may be but has its value more than for heart patients.

A statuesque appearance illuminating dark corners. Should SWT choose to increase cattle numbers here it may be one of the few gainers alongside bedstraw, willow herb and cotton grass.