Gamekeepers and Cairngorms park board in heated exchange over wildfires
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Muirburn professionals have accused Cairngorms leaders of not having a credible wildfire strategy in place to keep people safe, despite having two decades to do so.
The Scottish Gamekeepers Association, whose members have assisted fire crews at wildfires nationwide, say the national park’s blueprint to tackle major blazes is ‘non-existent’ - in response, the park board has stated that consultation is still going on and very successfully too, with some 1500 responses.
But the SGA is also claiming the current strategy is overly dependent on a presumption that, should a large wildfire rage, local gamekeepers and land managers will ‘bail them out’.
Cairngorms leaders’ creeping attempts over recent years to restrict muirburn have led to resentment and tensions with resident land managers within the park.
As a result, the SGA believes the park’s wildfire strategy is “fraught with risk”.
With such a dangerous volume of vegetative fuel to burn in certain areas, the SGA says it is not fair to expect their members to attend every SOS.
The comments come as the Cairngorms National Park Authority’s fire management consultation draws to a close.
The consultation has further strained relations between park leaders and land managers over a potential blanket byelaw restriction on muirburn, when fire danger warnings reach a certain level.
“As far as can be understood, the park’s wildfire plan seems to rest on the shoulders of the fire service, helped by gamekeepers and land managers,” said SGA chairman Alex Hogg MBE. Without full co-operation, realistically, what is the park’s Plan B?
“Government body, Forestry and Land Scotland, won’t train and equip staff to attend fires outside of their own forests and have said so in recent wildfire meetings.
“Conservation or NGO landowners, with the exception of Wildland, don’t have the equipment or skill to help. The NGOs have tried to put roadblocks in the way of professionals undertaking controlled burning, at every step of the way, so they won’t step up,” added Mr Hogg.
Last year, gamekeepers assisted the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at megafires at Cannich, and Daviot: 48 local gamekeepers, with specialised equipment, also helped extinguish the Moray fire of 2019 which burned for 44 square miles over 17 days.
The SGA believes local estates place equipment worth millions of pounds at the disposal of the fire service during peak fire seasons, through good will.
“In the debrief after the Moray fire, which reached the edge of the national park, leaders were told what they had to do, in terms of equipment, manpower and access, to keep people and property safe,” said SGA gamekeeper Bob Connelly.
“What has been delivered?
“Professionals pointed out the vast areas of un-managed vegetation within the park. Since then, with policy encouragement of more scrub through rewilding and less grazing, vegetative fuel loads are arguably higher than anywhere else. It’s a tinderbox of the park’s making.
“Do park leaders then simply expect volunteer gamekeepers, or anyone else, to risk their safety, in these extremes, to bail them out? The park’s residents deserve better after 20 years.”
The Cairngorms National Park’s fire management consultation seeks views on issues such as visitor use of barbecues and flammables. However it also proposes a potential blanket byelaw restriction on muirburn during times of high risk - something land managers say is not necessary.
“No professional will burn when it is not safe. It’s just not in their interest,” added SGA gamekeeper, Ed Jaundrell.
“Imposing a park-wide restriction makes no sense. Ground conditions in Donside will be vastly different from Drumochter, on the very same day.
“Individuals with proper equipment and vast experience know much better how to make those judgements on conditions, on their ground, than park policy people sitting in Grantown.”
A spokesperson for the CNPA told the Strathy: ““We are disappointed with the Scottish Gamekeepers’ Association’s statement on the comprehensive consultation on the future of fire management in the national park.
“The park authority has been seeking views on an open consultation and we’re delighted that over 1,500 people have responded so far.
““The park authority has not set out any preference and all the responses will be analysed before a recommendation is made to the board in June.
“The park authority is also working on the Integrated Wildfire Management Plan for the Park and the SGA and many of their members have been involved in the development of this work over the past six months.
“We need to ensure that we have a robust approach to mitigating the risk and impact of any wildfires in the Cairngorms National Park to protect the environment, communities and economy.”
