State forest

These signs at the entrance to the Belanglo State Forest in Australia advise visitors with instruction and warning.

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign or federated state, or territory.

Background

Map illustrates Redwood National and State Parks features and boundaries.

The precise application of the term varies by jurisdiction. For example:

• In Australia, it is forest that is protected by state laws, rather than by the Government of Australia.
• In Austria, the state forests are managed by the Österreichische Bundesforste
• In Germany, state forests are either federal forest called the Bundesforst, which is controlled by the Bundesforstverwaltung ("Federal Forest Office") or forest of the Länder called Landesforste
• In Iceland, forests managed by the Icelandic Forest Service are classified as national forests.
• In New Zealand, it is forest that is controlled by a central government agency.
• In Poland, state-owned forests are managed by the State Forests agency
• In the United Kingdom, it is any forest (usually plantations) owned and managed by the Forestry Commission.
• In the United States, it is a forest owned by one of the individual states.

Purposes

The purpose of a state forest varies between countries and the quality of the landscape it covers.^[1] In many places, state forests are divided into land for logging plantations, area for conservation, area for livestock grazing and area for visitor recreation.

As an example, in the state of California, the Redwood National and State Parks are a string of protected forests, beaches and grasslands along Northern California's coast. These are owned by both the U.S. federal government, and the State of California.^[2]

See also

• List of types of formally designated forests
• National Forest

References