True cost of the grouse moors

WITH reference to the article on grouse moors ('Shot in the arm for moribund grouse moors', August 12), the cost of grouse shooting is expensive, in comparison to other shooting, but it has to be remembered that grouse are wild and difficult to bag, so a premium is attached to the cost. To arbitrarily say that the cost for a day is £12,000 is wrong; prices are based on the expectation of birds bagged and some days can cost from £200 per person up to £1,000.

Buyers of grouse moors vary hugely: they are not all self-made men as suggested and they will, by and large, be injecting far more than the 10m mentioned. Upland management and management of grouse moors specifically are not subsidised and need vast injections of money. Let us be thankful that so many people have faith in the future to commit to long-term investment which creates jobs, maintains biodiversity, sustainability and keeps the hills the way the public wants to see them.

It is also worth pointing out that opponents of heather burning fail to grasp the facts of what happens. Heather is burnt in a controlled manner and strips of moorland are left to grow back creating both food and cover for wild birds. Under the control of burning, the peat is not affected and no carbon emissions are given off. If opponents get their way, heather would run wild and the lack of gaps would allow outbreaks of wild fires which would get into the peat and see vast swathes of moorland suffer.

Andrew Dingwall-Fordyce, Maud, Aberdeenshire