Doing what? I know I’m sounding like a parrot but I really would like a concrete example of something a chasse (not just one of the members helping a mate) has done in an organised fashion to improve the environment. I’ve looked at quite a few departmental sites and there are a lot of solid environmental objectives but I can’t find an actual example of a project apart from one that put in place some information signs about local fauna, and a couple of open days. We went to an event held by our local group one night to listen to deer rutting, which was fascinating, but that didn’t actually do anything real for conservation.
Jane… not sure what you want me to say… land management is land management.
I can list some of the things our chasse does.
As I have said, some landowners ask advice and want to do things themselves or with the help of the chasse… some landowners are happy to leave the work to the chasse.
Our chasse does all sorts … from clearing brushwood and undergrowth to enable young regrowth and wild plants etc to thrive… to dragging debris out of the rivers to help clean the water … to distributing fallen trees in specified areas where they will rot and become home to insects/fungi/whatever… which will become food for something else… they also secure certain areas to enable birds and small mammals/whatever to live and breed there in safety…
In recent years they have also arranged for hives to be placed hither and thither… working with local beekeepers. (depending on location, some extra protection from passing animals has been needed to protect the hives and the Chasse monitor regularly to ensure all is well)
A major aim is to ensure that a species’ preferred habitat remains viable, so that increased numbers will still be able to find the food etc that they need within that area. Thus they will not be out marauding and wrecking the farmers’ crops… particularly important with sanglier…
However, they don’t advertise their deeds, they don’t hit the headlines, they just get on and do it. For them it is a way of life… working to ensure the survival of the entire spectrum not just for today, but for tomorrow too… 
Incidentally… for those who have enjoyed a pleasant night under the stars, listening to the sounds of nature and particularly the roaring of the stags… here in rural France… give a passing nod of thanks to the chasse, without whose dedication such natural events might well risk vanishing from the scene…
That is one of the funniest things you’ve ever said Stella. 
ha ha… you often make me laugh too…
I’ll just add my experience here regarding some difficulties regarding ownership of land/access ways.
(1) Had a dispute with a neighbour who built a fence across the chemin that led to my house, which, after 1 year’s worth of waiting for a useless avocat to do what I had asked him to do, which turned out to be nothing, the judge ruled in my favour and the neighbour had to demolish the fence. I presented my own side of the dispute in a carefully well researched written statement. My advocat did absolutely nothing except to prepare the procedual steps to present it before a tribunal.
(2) During another neighbourly dispute involving land/boundary I did a lot of research and came across a case that sounds much like yours. A couple bought a piece of land, set back from the main highway, on which they built a house. Access was via a stony tractor trail, along the side of a field owned by a local farmer, leading from the road to their new house.
When the house was nearly complete the farmer suddenly appeared on the scene and demanded £50,000 for the couple to use the stony tractor trail. It went to court and the judge awarded the couple a right of access for £5,000. The farmer owned the field and waited for the right moment, and the advice given to the couple by the notaire prior to the purchase of the land was severely lacking. So beware!
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I believe that the chasse round here (Foret de Double) spend time during the summer clearing the fire breaks and maintaining some of the paths and tracks.
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Just an update on the access situation… and to encourage anyone else who may be thinking of living at the end of a dirt road in a forest.
We asked our seller (via the immobiier) all about access to the property (luckily our seller speaks seriously good English).
It seems that outside the property the dirt roads are owned by the local city and maintained by them. There have only been two major blockages in 15 years caused by fallen trees. Heavy vehicles must request permission to use the tracks but this can be an on-going permission for routine deliveries (propane gas, for example).
I asked him if any of the tracks had been made impassable by the action of hunters, farmers or their livestock… his reply is quite interesting…
In relation with hunting, law makes it compulsory for them to park vehicles on dedicated places. Practically they immediately give you priority if you and they are on the tracks. This assumes that you keep good relations with them.
I do not understand the question about livestock as there is none. (This last did make me smile).
So… we are relieved that access may not be a problem. However, buyer beware, but at least we now know what to ask the local Maire and what the Notaire should be able to confirm.
I hope this helps others in a similar situation.
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@NoelSussex …be sure to ask the Mairie about their maintenance plan for that particular “dirt road”. (do you really have a local city??? 
I suspect it is the Commune).
… and ask them if there are any Regulations about who can use the “dirt road” … (any such Regulations should be in writing, of course… otherwise how will folk know what they can and cannot do… 
)
As for the Chasse…
Buyer Beware…
And there are fairies at the bottom of my garden. What they are supposed to do in law and what happens in practice are two different things, during ‘a hunt’ they move about and there is very little chance they have/use dedicated parking areas for up to a dozen vehicles every time.
If I were you I’d visit the house/area when a hunt is on to see for yourself what the noise/disruption is like.
We are in a similar situation, living 1100 metres up a "chemin rural ", mainly gravel, and the land on each side obviously belongs to someone. They don’t, however , own the track which is the responsibility of the commune (in our case 2 communes just to make life interesting ). It does take a bit of a battering over the winter, but generally the responsible communes pay for some upkeep. Best to speak to your Maire to find out what they will do.
We have been blocked in a few times over the years by fallen trees, but if it happens, get the chainsaw out and clear it yourself and get some free firewood (before someone else does).
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Forget about it, it will turn into a nightmare.
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Getting back to your original question. I suggest you consult one of the many firms of lawyers in the UK specialising in French property purchase (a glance through the pages of French Property News will give you a few firms to consider). They do proper “searches“ and will give you sensible/legal advice.
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What needs to be pinned down in writing, and as a map, is “le droit de servitude” concerning this track i.e you have the right of access, by this track, to your house. That needs to be a “clause suspensive” in the contract ie no right off access, no sale.
And presumably, the right to use the track from your house back to the highway that serves it. Otherwise you’ll be marooned!
Rather like a car park barrier. Access is free. You just have to pay to get out. Farmer Lelievre wasn’t born yesterday!
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ah the old “it’s for conservation” nonsense. I hear this here in the UK too. They plough right up to the tarmac, grub out habitat, spray pesticides and herbicides with gay abandon, but shoot for ‘conservation’. It’s like they actually believe that nature couldn’t cope without human interference.
It’s all bollocks of course. Nature manages just fine if left alone, balancing predators and prey carefully. If prey animals proliferate, the numbers of prey animals also increases. If prey animals go into decline, so do the predators.
There is only one reason hunters hunt, whether on horseback with dogs, with guns, in any modern country, and that’s because they enjoy killing animals.
Don’t get me wrong. I eat meat. I rear my own ducks and chickens, have reared pigs, goats and rabbits for meat when I had family to feed.
I even pick up roadkill if it’s a nice fresh deer, not not once ever, have I woken up in the morning and thought “hurrah, I’m going to kill something today”.
I live rural and even here in the UK, the local farmers get pissed up and then shoot behind my home, shoot over my home and land (illegal), shoot anything that moves (including pet cats) and the police do nothing because chances are, the chief is out there shooting too.
just ask yourself. Would you buy a place with no right of access here in the UK?
I know I wouldn’t. What if the land changed hands and the new owner decided he no longer wanted the track there?
This is not your dream home, it’s a potential nightmare. While you might be fair minded decent folks, who would be friendly and reasonable, believe me, on average, the world isn’t populated with people like yourself. Don’t be naive. Buying a house with no right of way or legal access to it, would be naive in the extreme whether in France, rural Wales or the UK.
Mmmm … your life in UK doesn’t sound much fun…drunken farmers and folk using pesticedes and other nasty stuff… and grubbing out the habitat… yikes. 
I thought the farmers had learnt their lesson about removing hedges all those years ago…
In France, pesticides or any stuff which harms wildlife has been banned by the government… only Farmers are allowed some usage and they being brought into line… but that is taking a little longer.
Habitat for wildlife is priority in much of France (has been for a long time) and with the support from all country folk, work is afoot to reduce the losses of native species of wildlife - being attacked by imported/alien predators/invaders… (insects/birds/animals/plants)
I hope that is the case. I can’t find the original article now but the use of pesticides has unfortunately massively increased in France over the past year 