Paul, as you and I have both lived in Hampshire, and have both been to the New Forest, we both know that forest management is important. The following extract is from June 2011 after a fire broke out in the New Forest:
Prevention manager Steve Trevethick said: "With an exceedingly dry spring, a lot of our
beautiful countryside is very dry and very susceptible to fire.
"[Heath fires] can have a major consequence for a local community, tourism and local and regional infrastructure," he added.
Forest and woodland management is essential, Paul, as can be seen in thus extract from: Our New Forest, new forest centre.org.uk
"Bracken is a vigorous and dominant plant that can create a tall, dense canopy up to six feet in height.
When it collapses each autumn, the understorey plant species can be smothered. It encroaches onto the open heathland areas and it is here that the Forestry Commission controls the growth by swiping it down, chemically treating it or cutting the foliage and turning it into garden mulch which is sold in local nurseries and garden centres. All bracken control takes place during the summer.
Much of the vegetation actually benefits from cutting or burning as vigorous new growth helps to create a diverse Open Forest environment"
So it does happen, and it benefits, at least according to our common Hampshire bretheren.
