A WHITE Paper on England's forests – which has been described as a red herring – is being published by Defra today.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman is expected to promise that no "heritage" woodland owned by the Forestry Comm- ission, such as the Forest of Dean, will be sold; instead, it will be placed in the hands of charitable trusts.

She is also anticipated as saying that public rights of way through forests will be maintained – there are only a handful of designated public footpaths running through the Dean.

Stressing that sell-off plans to the private sector were no longer on the cards, Forest MP Mark Harper said: "I am confident that the plans which will be set out in the White Paper will properly protect the Dean.

"Once published, there will be a public consultation on the plans and there will be a full opportunity for everyone in the Forest of Dean to express their views. Once the consultation is finished, Ministers will take full account of the views expressed.

"As I have consistently said, the Government has no plans to sell the Forest of Dean to the private sector. All that has ever been proposed is whether a not- for-profit organisation, a charitable trust say, might be able to involve local people more closely in the ownership or management of the Forest of Dean."

Baroness Jan Royall, Labour Leader in the House of Lords, said the White Paper was something of a red herring. By giving the management of the Forest to a charitable trust could lead to privatisation by stealth, she said.

"The whole process has become topsy turvy. The real danger to the future of our forests lies in the Public Bodies Bill which is unlikely to come before the House of Lords until next week," she said.

"What we want is for the Forest of Dean to stay as a national asset run by the Forestry Commission.

"Anything that alters the status quo will open the doors to a future sell-off."

She said there was a real momentum from people of all walks of life and all political persuasions to protect the forests in England from sell-off.

Secretary of the HOOF steering committee Ian Standing said members would be meeting to discuss the implications of the White Paper.

And on the back of growing protests across the country, there are plans to hold a meeting in the Dean of representatives from all campaign groups so that a national response to the White Paper can be given to Government.

Media interest in the HOOF campaign has reached an all-time high with Sky News expected to film in the Forest today to coincide with the White Paper's publication.

A cycle rally organised at Cannop by HOOF attracted more than 120 cyclists of all ages on Sunday. This was featured on regional news programmes and the BBC's Forest born reporter Jeremy Cook interviewed protest- ers.

Cycle rally organiser Barbara French said: "It is so important we make the public aware of this very real threat to the Forest."