A future for the forest of dean

Summary This article outlines the historical background of the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire and the Acts of Parliament which have affected its landscape character. Problems relating to the present situation are discussed. These include rights of access, common rights, sales of public land, intrusion of industry, open cast mining and tourism. The suggestion is put forward that there should be a new Act of Parliament establishing a Dean Forest Authority which would be an autonomous estate management body with an executive committee drawn from the many interests in the district. The Forestry Commission, which is at present responsible for management, with its main concern that of commercial tree growing, is not considered to be sufficiently sympathetic to local needs. The author originally intended reading for a Forestry degree at Oxford, but eventually took a degree in Botany at that University (1957). For some time he was Biology teacher at King Edward VI's School, Norwich, and Head of Science at the Blyth School, Norwich. Since establishing the Centre for Environmental Studies for the Gloucestershire Education Authority in the Forest of Dean in 1969 he has become closely involved with a number of conservation organisations in Gloucestershire. He was for a time chairman of the Dean branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England and the North Dean Reserves Committee of the Gloucestershire Trust for Nature Conservation. Besides writing the occasional paper on field studies and local history he writes a ‘Conservation Piece’ monthly for the local papers. He has been an outspoken critic on a number of local issues on radio, television and in local inquiries.