I READ with considerable interest Bob Smyth's article in the centre pages of the Review, especially the comments made by the representatives of Forest Enterprise.

Like many other people, I was not aware that the Forest could sustain a sheep population of 5,000.

What I found amazing was the statement made by Val Long, firstly that Forest Enterprise supported the tradition of sheep badgers and, secondly, that sheep are important in conserving the habitat of the Forest by grazing brambles and undergrowth.

Well Val, I contacted Bristol University and lo and behold they informed me that the staple diet for deer during the winter months was bramble, so perhaps Val and Rob could answer two questions through the columns of this paper.

1: At a Forest Forum meeting last year Mr Guest explained the difficulty in counting the deer population for one of the methods employed was to count deer droppings which was made difficult because these droppings were the same as sheep. I have been informed by a member of Forest Enterprise staff that a recent count revealed a deer population of 300 and Forest Enterprise have authorised a cull of 100. So Rob, how can you be sure of the number of deer, and why, if the Forest can sustain a sheep population of 5,000, can it not sustain a mere 300 deer?

2: Forest Enterprise is charged by the nation to protect and preserve the flora and fauna of the Forest of Dean so why do Forest Enterprise support the running of sheep in the Forest and yet renege on a statement not to cull any deer for one full year for, after all, they are the true herbivores of the woods?

I truly hope that Mr Guest and Mrs Long will carry out their boast to be more open with the involvement of the public, which they can prove by giving their answers to the questions to the Review for all to see. – Trevor Payne, Perch Drive, Mile End, Coleford.