Hugh Fullerton-Smith – the general manager of the controversial Alladale Estate – gave a talk and took questions from Mountaineering Council of Scotland members on Saturday night following their AGM at Glenmore Lodge. Hugh began by outlining his own experience, which includes work with deer in New Zealand (producing velvet), project management for both the Cheyenne River Sioux in South Dakota and for the Metis Settlements on the Canadian prairies and assisting nomadic organisations with the setting up of mobile abattoirs in Mongolia. He also gave some background on Paul Lister, the owner of Alladale and the mastermind behind the…

The BBC 2 Scotland program ‘The Real Monarch of the Glen’ has been attracting some debate on the Walkhighland’s forum, WalkTalk. If you missed the program or live outside Scotland the latest episode is available on BBC i-player. The series is following MFI millionaire Paul Lister and his developments on the 23,000 acre Alladale Estate in the Highlands that he bought in 2003. Mr Lister hopes to introduce some of Scotland’s now extinct wildlife – including lynx, bears and wolves – to his estate, and to build a high electrified fence around it to keep them in. Many people applaud…

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park planners are due to decide on the future of the gold mine at Conoish near Tyndrum soon. Scotgold Resources have ordered specialist drilling equipment from Chile and South America to enable them to start exploratory work at the mine. The site covers 2,200 square kilometres, very near the Ben Lui National Nature Reserve and regenerating forest areas. Some of the area still bears the scars from the previous work carried out by Fynegold Exploration who used to own the site but the new plans are likely to cover a much larger area. The…