Hands off our Forest (HOOF) is a campaign group formed in 2010 to fight the UK Government's proposed sale of publicly owned land in the Forest of Dean. 'Hands off our Forest' describe themselves as a broad alliance of groups and individuals. Historical context The Forest of Dean has a long history of struggle between commoners and the Crown, Government and private landowners. The Dean Forest Timber Act (1808) resulted in large areas of the Forest being enclosed, depriving commoners of their customary privileges, and led directly to the Dean Forest Riots of 1831. In 1981, Parliament passed the Forestry Act (1981), amending an earlier act of 1967 to allow the sale of land managed by the Forestry Commission. Following a sustained campaign, the Forest of Dean was specifically exempted from the act. The Public Bodies Bill, introduced to Parliament in October 2010, proposed to amend the Forestry Act 1967, potentially repealing the Forest of Dean exemption. Background to the HOOF campaign Towards the end of October, 2010, newspaper reports emerged, claiming that the Government was planning to sell off public forests in England. Following discussions with Dean Forest Voice, Baroness Royall and other individuals, Forest of Dean newspaper, The Forester, responded by announcing the formation of a "Hands off our Forest" campaign. The reports were confirmed in late October, when the Minister for Agriculture and Food, James Paice MP, wrote to MPs to explain the Government's reasons for including powers to modernise forestry legislation in the Public Bodies Bill, which had recently been introduced to Parliament. His letter confirmed the Government was "exploring new ownership" options for forestry land currently managed by the Forestry Commission; which include large areas of the Forest of Dean. National reaction According to The Guardian, "the news [was] met with near-universal disgust and shock". The same newspaper also quoted Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party, as saying it was an "unforgivable act of environmental vandalism". An online petition opposing the sale, titled Save Our Forests has so far received more than 500,000 signatories. Local reaction The member of Parliament for the Forest of Dean, Mark Harper, defended the proposals, describing them as an 'exciting opportunity for community ownership'. He also said James Paice's letter assured him everything the public holds dear about the Forest of Dean would be protected under any new ownership. However, the proposals were widely criticised by residents within