State forest

This sign at the entrance to the Belanglo State Forest in Australia advises visitors to "please be careful".

A state forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state or U.S. state.

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

• In Australia, it refers to forest that is protected by state laws, rather than by the Government of Australia.
• 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 refers to any forest (usually plantations) owned and managed by the Forestry Commission.
• In the United States, it refers to a forest owned by one of the individual states.