GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Ben Nevis Path
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GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Ben Nevis Path Landscape Character Lochs & Glens provide a sinuous movement to Glen Nevis sits in a wider Glen-side is steep but landscape with mixed land use levels off towards the Extensive even the landscape of deer estates, forestry & open lower slopes aged conifers at hill Tollie sit in the saddle of the hills Some diversity in the margins on the Upper slopes defined by Forest margin Large scale landscape upper slopes at semi-natural vegetation represents the of sweeping peaks & Tollie Forest structure is diverse but patterns (non FC) ownership boundary rugged massif species composition is limited near the mouth of the Hill Fort of glen Dun Deardail River Nevis forms a Smaller scale in Fairly hard edges along the Bottom of the glen sinuous thread the bottom of the upper margins of the generally open but with a through the glen glen plantations lightly defined enclosure pattern Settled valley bottom with numerous dwellings and tourist Forest roads are Some restructuring of the forest development visible but rise has taken place but coupe shapes gradually along the are still angular. This is in part due glen-side to the steepness of the terrain and difficulties of working GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Ben Nevis Path Lines of Visual Force Lines of visual force Upward (Hollows/ valleys) Downwards (Ridges) GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Ben Nevis Path Management Proposals Restructuring the even- Maintain the area Small areas of isolated Phase 1 felling of Phase 2 felling of aged plantations around around Dun Deardail mature spruce left due to remaining mature mature larch running Tollie has already begun. Hill Fort as open to the challenges of spruce. Retain up to the ridge on Particular attention paid to provide an harvesting. Aim to visually strong Cow Hill. Ensure a the design of coupes as appropriate setting remove over the period groups of Scots pine clean finish on the they cut the shoulder of for this culturally of the plan. Regenerate for visual diversity upper margin. the ridge. important site. naturally. and as a seed source. Felling of mature spruce Proposal is to move towards Restock with productive Seek to achieve a more integrated programmed under current pine and birch woodland on Douglas fir and Scots pine edge between woodland and open approval. the mid slopes using natural on the lower slopes where area on the upper margins. This will regeneration to achieve this the soils are conducive. be particularly important around Cow where possible. Hill. The cattle grazing area will be Supplementary planting extended to achieve this. may be required. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from above Achriabhach looking north Landscape character Upper margin of the Remaining are of spruce in the The landform is a defining Blocks of remaining The character of the glen The scale of the human birch woodland has a furthest corner of the FC feature of this area. The productive conifers are as a U-shaped valley is influence is much less and is strong integrated landholding in the glen offers poor ridges and the U-shaped less dominant in this more evident here than more concentrated onto the relationship with the integration and is currently being nature of the glen exert a view. from other views. valley floor. The enclosure mountain ridge above. felled under the existing approval strong visual influence of the pattern is fine and the ribbon to move towards a more vista. formed by the River Nevis is naturalistic woodland structure. reflected by the highway and forest road network. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from above Achriabhach looking north Lines of Visual Force Lines of visual force Upward (Hollows/ valleys) Downwards (Ridges) GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from above Achriabhach looking north Management Proposals Mature spruce with pockets of Scots pine, birch and Partially restored forest consisting of young Scots Mature Scots pine and spruce larch. Not previously harvested due to inaccessibility. pine and birch plus regenerated spruce and with canopy competition. Proposal: Fully restore to native pinewood through western hemlock. Scattered mature conifers. Proposal: Fully restore to native felling and extraction of spruce by winch. Scots pine, Proposal: Re-establish to native pinewood by pinewood by thinning stand birch and to be retained. This work is currently in removing spruce and western hemlock. Process including felling and extracting progress under the previous approval. small trees with chainsaw in situ to incorporate all spruce. woody material into ground layer. Fell remaining areas of mature spruce along the glen over the next 10-15 years. Douglas fir will be used to restock the lower part of the glen on the better soils. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Achintee towards Cow Hill Landscape Character The immediate landscape around Conifers run over the top of the hill Small areas of mature larch To the west Cow Hill is shrouded in Fort William is dominated by Cow creating an un-natural aspect to the and beech break up the harsh upland birch woods which fit Hill. While now entirely in the topography. Further west the hill top vertical line of conifers in comfortably with the nature of the ownership of Forestry Commission is bare. places. landform. the pre-existing ownership boundary is marked by a vertical line of conifers on very steep ground. The landform is dominated by convex shapes. Although Cow Hill is comparatively small compared to surrounding hills and mountains, it proximity to the town makes it the dominant feature. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Achintee towards Cow Hill Lines of Visual Force Lines of visual force Upward (Hollows/ valleys) Downwards (Ridges) GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Achintee towards Cow Hill Management Proposals Lower slope provides the backdrop Fell upper part of the spruce in the Increase grazing area around Cow to Braveheart car park. This will first phase of the plan. Retain the Hill to encourage a more naturalistic remain as spruce but will be cap as open and encourage natural vegetation and benefit emblematic progressively thinned with a view to regeneration of birch and pine (with species such as black grouse and long-term continuous cover with some supplementary planting) to chequered skipper. mature conifers. develop a more naturalistic woodland cover around the hill. Progressively fell the remaining areas of mature conifer sitting high on the hillside, using this as an opportunity to modify the upper woodland margins towards a more naturalistic structure. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Sgorr Chalum overlooking Tollie. Landscape Character The landform here is subtly different Some scattered groups of isolated from other areas of the glen with a The majority of the forest plantation mature spruce that have been left sits within the saddle between Glen corrugated series of ridges that is in due to operational inaccessibility. Nevis and the Kiachnich glen part masked by the even-aged These are now obtrusive features in system. This is a natural link for the Cow Hill spruce plantation. the landscape. West Highland Way to pass through. Ben Nevis Dun Deardail hill fort sits in an open Roadline has recently been built to The upper margins of the spruce position where it oversees much of facilitate harvesting in the Tollie plantations are less severe than the glen. A strong sense of place is area. Initial felling work have other areas of the forest but still attached to it. Scattered already begun. form high contrast with the open hill regeneration (mostly spruce) around adjacent. the lower slopes. GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Achintee towards Cow Hill Lines of Visual Force Lines of visual force Upward (Hollows/ valleys) Downwards (Ridges) GLEN NEVIS LAND MANAGEMENT PLAN View from Achintee towards Cow Hill Management Proposals Fell the main cap of Tollie in Phase 4 Fell isolated blocks of (2030-35). Restock with spruce on the Gradually improve the mature spruce. lower slopes. Restock with birch and upper margins of the pine on the mid-slopes fading out to Operationally this will be forest through felling the upland birch wood on the forest margin difficult may require mature spruce and to improve the integration with the operational infrastructure (as yet to be determined). redefining with upland open hill. birch and pine woodland. Series of felling coupes will offer Keep a watching brief on the opportunities to change the nature of the spruce regeneration. Currently it internal landscape for those on the final adds to the sense of integration leg of the West Highland Way. What was with the open hill but could be previously an extended walk through un- visually problematic if allowed to thinned conifer plantation will become become dominant. much more varied in character. .