The State Forests of New South Wales include over 2 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of public land managed by the Forestry Corporation of NSW as state forests on behalf of the NSW Government.
[2] Forestry Corporation manages environmental conservation, community access, tourism, fire, land management and timber production within the state forests of NSW.
[1] Approximately 225,000 hectares (560,000 acres) of NSW State Forests are softwood timber plantations, and just under 35,000 hectares (86,000 acres) are hardwood timber plantations.
[1] In 1871, as settlement advanced through the Colony of New South Wales, with land cleared for cultivation, trees ringbarked for grazing and timber used for the development, the first forest reserves were proclaimed with the aim of preserving the timber resource of the colony.
[3] The first attempt at a commercial pine plantation was made at Tuncurry State Forest on the mid-north coast in 1912.