Although more than half of the estate has maximum legal protection under European and Scottish law, Glen Feshie is a mess. It has suffered terribly from overgrazing and erosion from the red deer that proliferate throughout the highlands. Few of its magnificent old granny pines are less than 100 years old. The woods are dying. In February, a survey counted 2,200 deer, double last year's population.
Conservationists say the answer is simple.
They want deer culled and fences removed on a massive scale. At its Abernethy reserve, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, a leading UK environment charity, has done just that, clearing 25 miles of fencing and reducing deer numbers by 60 percent. The result over the past eight years is a stable capercaillie population. Fencing is more than just a problem for wildlife. But deer-hunting is big business for Scotland's powerful landowners, who charge millions of pounds for shooting rights.