new ground for national park

welsummer

I heard today that some lord is allegedly suppose to of sold of a lot of land in west wicklow to Duchas for something like 4 million.I wonder will this ground be available for stalking lease or will it become part of the national park and how much land was involved.

bunny shooter

4 million € and the country broke :mad:

Nice little earner for a few of the boyz I'd say :mad::mad::mad:

be money better wasted in the health service or something

seoirse1980

Mr. John Gormley TD, Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, today (14 May 09) announced a significant new land acquisition for Wicklow Mountains National Park. It brings the total area of Wicklow Mountains National Park to some 20,483 hectares. This purchase substantially expands the size of the Wicklow Mountains National Park on its western boundary, adjacent to the Wicklow gap mountain lands on either side of the Laragh Hollywood Road (R756).
This acquisition consolidates existing public access to the area, which in the context of the expansion of Dublin, will enable the National Park to remain a most valuable resource on the Capital’s doorstep.
The Minister who has overseen a period of sustained investment in nature conservation since coming to Office said that the area in question is 2,833 hectares (7,100 acres) and equates to some four times the size of the Phoenix Park in Dublin making it one of the most important acquisitions by the National Parks and Wildlife Service in recent times. “This addition to the National Park will serve to support nature conservation in an area which continues to attract huge volumes of visitors. Furthermore”, the Minister added, “ it shows the Government’s commitment to investing in sustainable eco-tourism which is a vital component in promoting our economic fortunes.”
The area, being part of the Wicklow Mountains area is very popular with hill walkers, day trippers and picnic-goers. It includes or has access to, mountains such as Mullaghcleevaun, Moanbane and Table Mountain. The land is a Special Area of Conservation (protected by EU Habitats Regulations) and is designated as an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by Wicklow County Council. The lands are of a high conservation quality and contain a mixture of Blanket Bog, Wet Heath and Dry Heath habitats. They are also important for many bird species including Merlin and Red Grouse.
The Minister went on to say that “ in these tough economic times, more and more people are turning to inexpensive outdoor recreational activities and this acquisition provides further opportunity for such healthy pursuits. Our national parks are also a great tourist attraction and in these difficult times we must all do our bit to encourage that all important tourist spend.” The Minister also mentioned the potential of the Red Kite project to attract tourists to the Wicklow area. “It is a well known fact that people will travel from afar to try and catch a glimpse of these magnificent birds. In Scotland, Sea Eagles attract thousands of visitors and have been shown to be worth up to €3 million annually. Eco tourism is the way forward and all we need do is make these areas exciting and vibrant areas to visit.”
In conclusion the Minister expressed his thanks and appreciation to all those involved in bringing this initiative to a successful conclusion and in particular, the Vendor, Lord Waterford, for having the vision to give the State first option on the disposal of these important lands.

kakashka

Yes indeed thank you LORD Waterford for giving us first option on that
For FCUK SAKE..

jwshooter

they retained the sporting rights for 15 years .

bunny shooter

jwshooter wrote: »

they retained the sporting rights for 15 years .

Nice :mad:

And now has plenty of dosh and connections to keep 'em for a good few more now that he has €4,000,000 in his arse pocket :rolleyes:

jwshooter

i shot the area for years savage amount of deer on it ,i seen the biggest wicklow red/hybrid up on it to date.
not to many picnic tables on it

the lad that stalks it is a very sound lad and looks after his ground well ,he is managing it many years now i hope the park lads do the same.

i wounder has gormally ever seen the ground ,he is harping on about eco tourism, walkers have the hills on the wicklow gap ripped to bits tracks every where .

walkers should not be let off designated tracks this time of the year let alone run where they like.

he starts on about sea eagles and birds of prey in scotland and the millions that are made from people coming to see them .this is not scotland mr gormally .
park on the side of the road with a pair of binos ,we get raped every day of the week we are hardly going to pay to look at kites.
there is 20,000 + hectares on the park thats a handy estate in scotland the irish parks are just not big enough for large raptors simple as that .

money should be spent on more rangers ,not just desk jockeys but people that know how the eco system works in the mountains.

our red grouse are on a red list and there letting raptors out and counting pine marten .

scottish natural heritage ,
have announced new guidelines and will issue licences for the control of raptors ,pine martins, and ravens the scourge of the hill.

the RSPB in the uk are calling for raptor control ,there is a turn up for the books.
84% of there members asked wanted control done .

so why are trying to flood the country with them ,the whim of a city based politician.
to try catch the city/townie vote or is that he/they have not a clue whats goes on it rural ireland.

i have no problem with them buying more land but they are not able to look after ground they have .
is there no one with a brain in power in this country.

dresden8

jwshooter wrote: »

is there no one with a brain in power in this country.

Quite frankly, no.

Deerspotter

dresden8 wrote: »

Quite frankly, no.

+ 1

westwicklow

Not too popular with those of us who reside in the area in queasion!!!

Grizzly 45

dresden8 wrote: »

Quite frankly, no.

++1:pac:

welsummer

>the lad that stalks it is a very sound lad and looks after his ground well ,he is managing it many years now i hope the park lads do the same.

how are they going to manage it with the amount of deer on the ground that they have

jwshooter

welsummer wrote: »

>the lad that stalks it is a very sound lad and looks after his ground well ,he is managing it many years now i hope the park lads do the same.

how are they going to manage it with the amount of deer on the ground that they have

its open hill what damage are they doing ,other than keeping heather under control so grouse can feed .

deer on the open hill will do less damage than any amount of sheep.
sheep are the problem in wicklow up lands not deer .

welsummer

how come sheep do more damage than deer, when most of the hill deer are hybrids and are a lot bigger than sheep and far outnumber the sheep on the hill

kakashka

jwshooter wrote: »

its open hill what damage are they doing ,other than keeping heather under control so grouse can feed .

deer on the open hill will do less damage than any amount of sheep.
sheep are the problem in wicklow up lands not deer .

Sheep are the problem on the wicklow hills??please explain.

Sheep and in turn farmers are being pushed off the hills to make way for said hillwalkers,day trippers and picnic goers,i might also add that the vast majority of deer in wicklow are fed by SHEEP farmers.
(some ppl/organisations making money from deer stalking should recognise this fact)

jwshooter

sheep will eat the grasses to the ground they it takes longer to come back ,deer feed more like cattle and will eat more heather etc .low intensity grazing is good for the hills be it sheep or deer .
to many sheep in a area that is not managed correctly is a problem.

over the centuries sheep grazed on the hills in wicklow and other area in the country .
the men that farmed the uplands managed the heather and grasses by controlled burning along with sheep grazing.
another reason there is fewer sheep on the hill is money ,it cost money to house them in the winter,also some farmers have cross bread the native sheep with low land rams and there off spring are less inclined to live or stay on the tops.

up land management has gone in to decline in recent years as many are not full time farmers any more .

kakashka

Sheep generally will not eat grass seed heads,Deer will.
Sheep are generally taken off mountain area during winter months.
Sheep will graze heather but prefer grass as do Sika/Red Deer and Cattle.
I personally have never seen a Sika eat heather of any kind.
I have seen Sika/Reds travel long distance to graze GRASS land at night.

Simply ridiculous to say sheep are the problem on WW hills and that deer will do less damage than any amount of sheep!

jwshooter

kakashka wrote: »

Sheep generally will not eat grass seed heads,Deer will.
Sheep are generally taken off mountain area during winter months.
Sheep will graze heather but prefer grass as do Sika/Red Deer and Cattle.
I personally have never seen a Sika eat heather of any kind.
I have seen Sika/Reds travel long distance to graze GRASS land at night.

Simply ridiculous to say sheep are the problem on WW hills and that deer will do less damage than any amount of sheep!

your contradicting your self ,deer will eat heather next time you shoot one on the hill have a look at its stomach contents .
i watch a sika hind eating bark of a fallen oak during the snow last winter.
they will eat most things.

if the farmers that have grazing rights on hill dont manage the hills it puts pressure on the hole eco system.

granted there not as much sheep on our hills as there used to be

kakashka

Of course poor management will ruin anything.
Sika prefer grass,not heather.
Where is the contradiction?
And as i said the vast majority of deer in WW are fed by farmers.

jwshooter

yes, but a lot of farmers in wicklow sell there shooting of them .

welsummer

>i watch a sika hind eating bark of a fallen oak during the snow last winter.
when you are starving you will eat anything.!!!!

>over the centuries sheep grazed on the hills in wicklow and other area in the country .
exactualy, and that is why you have the eco system that is there. and when the shepp farmers are all gone from the hill who is going to manage the controllled burning on a regulay basic. the day trippers

jwshooter

welsummer wrote: »

>i watch a sika hind eating bark of a fallen oak during the snow last winter.
when you are starving you will eat anything.!!!!

>over the centuries sheep grazed on the hills in wicklow and other area in the country .
exactualy, and that is why you have the eco system that is there. and when the shepp farmers are all gone from the hill who is going to manage the controllled burning on a regulay basic. the day trippers

of course deer will eat any thing that was my point.

they have left the hill as its hardship on the part time farmers to do any management work like cutting and burning heather and bracken ,
if it was not for the grants and subsidies they would have little interest in place in the first place .

but thanks for pointing that out again

there was a large area sprayed by helicopter this year in the glen of imal for bracken.

i do agree with you the day trippers from dublin etc, add very little to the up lands other than litter and erosion

welsummer

[

>there was a large area sprayed by helicopter this year in the glen of imal for bracken.


its way too early in the year to be spraying for bracken as they are supposted to be sprayed just as they come into full frown. it was also sprayed last year and 5 years previous to that but there was no follow up spray and the bracken took over again.
the reason why the glen of emal is been sprayed is because of the amount of sheep that have been killed by friendly fire from the armed forces, and they say that they cant see them in the bracken.

jwshooter

welsummer wrote: »

[

>there was a large area sprayed by helicopter this year in the glen of imal for bracken.


its way too early in the year to be spraying for bracken as they are supposted to be sprayed just as they come into full frown. it was also sprayed last year and 5 years previous to that but there was no follow up spray and the bracken took over again.
the reason why the glen of emal is been sprayed is because of the amount of sheep that have been killed by friendly fire from the armed forces, and they say that they cant see them in the bracken.

i was talking about last year

kakashka

jwshooter wrote: »

of course deer will eat any thing that was my point.

they have left the hill as its hardship on the part time farmers to do any management work like cutting and burning heather and bracken ,
if it was not for the grants and subsidies they would have little interest in place in the first place .

but thanks for pointing that out again

there was a large area sprayed by helicopter this year in the glen of imal for bracken.

i do agree with you the day trippers from dublin etc, add very little to the up lands other than litter and erosion

Sheep were put to the hills so the farmers could harvest a crop of grass for winter feed!!!
Been done for a hell of a long time/well before any money from EU which i might add is given to farmers who own said hills or own grazing
"if it were not for grants and subsidies they(farmers) would have little interest in place in first place"???????????WHA!!!!
If it were not for the money you make from Deer/Stalking etc you would have little interest in them in first place......

jwshooter

kakashka wrote: »

Sheep were put to the hills so the farmers could harvest a crop of grass for winter feed!!!
Been done for a hell of a long time/well before any money from EU which i might add is given to farmers who own said hills or own grazing
"if it were not for grants and subsidies they(farmers) would have little interest in place in first place"???????????WHA!!!!
If it were not for the money you make from Deer/Stalking etc you would have little interest in them in first place......

i am working for a sheep farmers family at the moment he is getting out of sheep and he would have rights on the blackstairs .

in his words we made as much 25 years ago for a lamb as we do now every thing has x 5, other that the price of lamb .
it almost cost money to shear them.
the young lad has no interest in following them .il keep a 100 as a keep sake .

only for the EU money he would pack them in also,this man is in his 60s how many are there like him .

and if you want to know any of my business just pm me with your name and number and i can meet you to have a talk .

kakashka

I know lots of young sheep farmers,
If your friend has nobody to take over then thats sad for him.

My point was-you cannot just say farmers are there for the money

I have no interest in your business.

lightening

jwshooter wrote: »

i do agree with you the day trippers from dublin etc, add very little to the up lands other than litter and erosion

I don't think so, having climbed, canoed and walked in Wicklow since the eighties and worked on a sheep farm in Wicklow my experience is that most rubbish is left in Wicklow by farmers, knackers burning wire, anglers and lets be honest, what is the story with all the shotgun cartridges? Dubliners who are bothered to travel to Wicklow to enjoy the nature are not litterers.

Edit; Not a huge amount of cartridges, but I do come across them...