There is a thread running on the Hebweb site. (Discussion.) I have contributed as has Phillip Marshall, along with several other contributors.
Some people just don’t get it that it is necessary and will be for the benefit of birds, plants, insects and flowering plants, not to mention fungi, ferns and small mammals including bats.
They see a few felled trees and make an emotional judgement that it is thoughtless vandalism. It isn’t. It has been carefully thought through, and will improve the Crags (one ‘g’) for all wildlife, including native tree species.
It’s a difficult issue. I would be in favour of letting the Beech live out their lives if only they didn’t create so much seed. I think we suffer from short termism when thinking about our local environment. We get worked up about Himalayan Balsam which we see spreading because it’s a short time scale. We don’t notice the spread of the Beech in the same way.
I think it really came home to me when I went to survey a number of “Ancient Woodlands” in Crag Vale and couldn’t find a single ancient woodland indicator species because the original woodlands had been clear felled and replanted with Beech, possibly during the wars.
A woodland or forest should be moving across the landscape over long time periods but we have parcelled up the land. Unfortunately by doing this we stop the natural processes and then we have to step in to try and recreate those processes (which is always a poor imitation).
I hope those people (and their descendents) opposed to the felling will be happy to engage in beech sapling removal instead so that over time those areas may become more vibrant and diverse.
Pointing out to newcomers to the area; we have two beautiful valleys with similar names – Hardcastle Crags (with one g) near Hebden Bridge, and Cragg Vale near Mytholmroyd. There is a side valley with a fabulous wood in it called Broadhead Clough which branches off Cragg Vale; this is a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve. The extensive woodlands at Hardcastle Crags are owned and professionally cared for by the National Trust. Steve Blacksmith.