IF the Government sells the Forest of Dean, it will be the first time it would be owned by anyone except Royalty and the State in over 800 years.

The Forest ceased to belong to the Crown in 1924, when it was transferred to the State, managed by the Forestry Commission.

The Public Bodies Bill sets out to reform the Forestry Commission. Details have yet to be released on the nature and extent of the reform, or whether Forest of Dean land will be included in a massive sell off.

But the proposed 2011 law provides the mechanism to sell off not only land outside the Statutory boundary but within the main Forest of Dean. Clause 17 of the bill is "to allow the Secretary of State to make an order amending the Forestry Act 1967... including... managing, using, letting and disposing of forestry land".

Crucially this means removing a 1981 amendment to that Act which protects the forested parts of the Dean. Deputy surveyor Kevin Stannard confirmed that the Forestry, while not legally obliged, made it policy that non-forested land it was permitted to sell for another purpose, such as housing, was swapped for woodland, to ensure the Forest didn't shrink.

If the Forest is sold off, by law people must still be able to walk through the woods but the landowner would be under no obligation to repair damaged paths (the Forestry isn't either, but does for the public's benefit), nor to allow cyclists or horse-riders, unless on public bridleways. Dogs may not be allowed off leads, and landowners will have "sporting rights" to shoot deer and other animals, disturbing the quiet of a woodland walk with gunfire. It is uncertain whether commoners' and freeminers' rights will be upheld.

And while the entire New Forest is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, only small pockets of the Dean enjoy such protection of its nature and biodiversity, a priority for the Forestry Commission.

The Public Bodies Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on Tuesday and the Labour Leader in the Lords Baroness Jan Royall of Blaisdon will lead the debate for the Opposition.

"I will be asking a series of questions because I am deeply, deeply concerned about the parts of the Bill that relate to the Forestry Commission," said Baroness Royall.

After committee, report stages and a final debate in the Lords – during which Baroness Royall says she plans to table a range of amendments" – the Bill will pass through the same stages in the House of Commons.

Finally, it must gain Royal assent to become statutory law in 2011.