The site was assessed by English Nature as in an unfavourable but recovering condition in 2005. Management of the area by the National Trust has aimed, since 1992, to promote heathland regeneration by preventing encroachment by birches, scrub and bracken. Strategies used include bracken rolling, clearing birch scrub and removing some older trees from heathland areas. Grazing with cattle is employed in summer. Tree clearance, has, however, resulted in conflict between the trust and a local residents group, Friends of Bickerton Hill, which organised a protest on the hill in October 2008 against tree felling, especially in the picturesque Cuckoo Rock Valley.