More than half of the forest area in Estonia belongs to the state. According to the Estonian Land Reform Act of 1919, the forests of nationalised manors were not to be distributed. As manor forests accounted for nearly 70% of the forests at that time, it led to the predominance of state forestry in Estonia.
The State Forest Management Centre (RMK) is the manager and the keeper of the forests and other diverse natural communities that belong to the Estonian state. RMK takes care of 45% of Estonia’s forest land and of about 30% of Estonia’s total land area.
Information on Estonian forest resources is collected by taking forest inventory. In 2007, 816,000 hectares of state forest were registered by RMK. After a few years, RMK started to enter the lands that were still owned by the state into the land cadastre, and the state forest began to grow. In 2014, RMK’s forest area exceeded 900,000 ha and continued to grow by nearly 35,000 ha per year. On September 30, 2017, a newly described 120-year-old mixed spruce forest near Vergi was entered into the RMK database. The area of the state forest thus exceeded a million hectares.

Kullenga plant nursery was founded in 1968, when the Rakvere forest household established a pine seed orchard in the former Porkuni forest region for obtaining tree seeds.
To get seeds capable of producing trees with high-quality genetic material, only the offspring of the best trees have to be planted in the seed orchard. To do that, the forest stands with the highest growth are selected, from which, in turn, the best trees are picked. There are a few hundred of this type of trees in Estonia and they are called plus-trees. The selected trees will become documented ‘grade trees’. Scions are retrieved from the treetops of plus-trees, and they are engrafted to the trees raised from seeds. The trees grown from these scions are the copies or clones of their plus-tree parents in terms of their genetic material.
Once the young trees in the seed orchard start producing cones, the hard work pays off, as seed orchards are the best way for obtaining seeds that produce fast-growing, straight, and lean trees.
In 1968–1978, 16,400 of these engrafted trees or clones were planted on 65 hectares of the Kullenga seed orchard. The plants from that time are old and replaced by new ones, the offspring of the best trees.
Around 3.2 million pot spruces are raised as seedlings in the foil greenhouses of Kullenga. Half of those are taken to the RMK plant nurseries for nursing, whereas the rest are nursed on the field and taken to forest for planting after two years.

Ten county forestry centres were formed in 1945 in order to manage the activities of forest districts. Forestry centres were self-sufficient and their initial task was to secure wood reserves, whereas actual forest management was less important.
Forest management was separated from forestry in 1947. Forest districts were formed based on the forest management fields of activity of forestry centres while the forestry centres themselves remained a forest stocking enterprises that later became six forest factories. The main task of the forest management system was growing forests and delivering timber forests to (mainly national) forestry enterprises.
The construction of dwellings for the workers of the Laiksaare forest base began in 1950. The builder was the forestry centre’s capital construction department. Four two-storey buildings with eight apartments each were built for the Laiksaare forest base in a couple of years by using lam boards from Järvakandi factory. The last building was demolished in early 1990.

Sources:
Etverk, I., Imet, K., Karoles, K. jt. 1998. Eesti riigimetsad ja nende majandamine 1918-1998
Etverk, I., Meikar, T.,Viilup, Ü. 2003. Pärnumaa metsad ja metsandus 20. Sajandi teises pooles

Several resin extraction plots are located by the hiking route in Rassi Village. Resin has a protective function in coniferous trees: it flows into the wounds inflicted on the tree, stopping the invasion of pathogens and pests.
People have used resin throughout time. In the early days, they used it to treat wounds and make brushes; nowadays, however, it is a raw material in the chemical industry. Collecting resin from the wounds cut into the trunk of a pine is called resin extraction.
Resin extraction was first tested in Estonia after the First World War but the intensive industrial resin production in Estonia began in the second half of the 1940s. Over 100 tonnes of resin was produced as early as in 1949. The largest quantity of resin was produced in 1960 when 835 tonnes of the substance was gathered. Resin production diminished after that due to the reduction of prescribed cuts and extensive damage from a storm in 1967.
According to Jaak Leiman, one of the most prolific resin extractors of the Türi Forest Combine, the job was suitable for reclusive people, as it meant working alone and being in the nature for the whole summer. Jaak Leiman was often friendly with the common adder, as well as snakes to whom he offered milk that they liked a lot. A resin extractor’s wages were only a little bit smaller than the incomes of sailors.

Sources: 
Välja, A. 1981. Vaigutamine ja puidu keemiline töötlemine. I osa . Vaigutamise bioloogilised ja tehnilised alused.

There is a memorial stone by the hiking route with an image of a bear holding a shovel alongside with the writing “Vändra metsakuivendajatelt 1025 ha 1975-77 a” which translates into “From the Vändra forest drainers, 1025 ha, 1975–77”. Such memorial stones can be found by large land improvement objects all over Estonia. On one hand, it is a memorial for a specific drainage object but, on the other hand, it is also the symbol of an era.
Draining excess water and minimising bog formation improves timber production for the forest owner. Forest drainage works began in the manor forests in the first decades of the 19th century.
The first excavators were taken into use for forest drainage in 1938 but the extensive use of machines in forest drainage only began in the 1950s. The majority of Estonian drainage systems were created in the years 1950–1980.
Intensive forest drainage lasted until the end of the 1980s, after which it stopped nearly completely. Over half of the state forest lands in Estonia have been drained.
Today, there are both those who are for and those who oppose forest drainage. Drainage, just like every other method of redesigning nature, does not only affect the drained area but its surroundings as well. In addition to the water regime, drainage also affects the properties, flora and fauna of the habitats.
The main goal of modern forest improvement is maintaining the existing roads and drainage systems in order to avoid the perishing of the forest stands and to ensure the possibility of moving in the forests.

Sources:  
Arukask, A. 2005. 55 aastat mehhaniseeritud metsakuivendust Eestis.
Arukask, A. 2010. 60 aastat mehhaniseeritud metsakuivendust Eestis.

The Kaagipõllu Guard belonged to the Voltvet Research and Experimental Forest District. In 1932, the forest district was 9800 hectares large, 7800 hectares of which was forest. Students of the Voltvet Forestry School, opened in 1925, helped along with the forestry work. Thus, the forestry work was completed and students were able to practise.
Larch was cultivated around the Kaagipõllu ranger’s post during the years 1933–1936. The plants came from the Kõrtsi plant garden, additional 450 Siberian larches (Larix sibirica) were from the forestry school’s plant garden. During the planting of larches by the forestry school, it was noted that the high price of the plants hinders the further cultivation of this valuable tree species.
In 1934, Paul Raim wrote in the magazine “Eesti Mets” about the planting of foreign tree species, including the larch, at the Voltvet Experimental Forest District: “Seeds were ordered through Finnish (Proveniens) and Danish (Rafn & Co) seed traders. Several cultivars of larch have been successfully established, the plantings of which were performed with 2- and 3-year-old trained plants. Three species of larches were grown: Larix sibirica, Larix koreensis and Larix leptolepis, of which the Larix koreensis excels with its lush and straight growth. The other larch species mentioned also grow quite well in the established cultivars.”

Sources:
Eesti Mets 1932/10
Eesti Mets 1934/12
Eesti NSV põllumajanduse ministeeriumi metsamajanduse peavalitsuse ning põllu- ja metsamajanduse teaduslik-tehnilise ühingu metsamajanduse sektsiooni bülletään. 1958. January
RMK Cultural Heritage Database

Self-sufficient auxiliary enterprises or scrap mills (later known as consumer goods factories) were established by forest districts in 1948–1949.
The Kilingi-Nõmme Forest District’s scrap mill at Marana began operating in July 1948. By 1964, it had become the largest consumer goods factory, employing more than 200 people. Marana had a boiler plant along with a drying kiln, a lumber mill, a wood shop, woodchip-board mill, feed flour mill and other buildings. In addition to sawn timber and planed boards, they also made shingles, plaster mats, drainage pipes, windows, doors, stage frames, furniture, boxboards and many other things. Marana also had a shelling mill for removing seeds from cones.
The Marana nursery was also part of the Kilingi-Nõmme Forest District and its aim was to supply plants to other forest districts. Even today, trees are grown at the Marana nursery for planting elsewhere.
By the end of the 1960s, forest districts had become one of the more important establishments in the countryside along with agricultural associations. The technical equipment of forest districts improved, the recycling of wood increased and new fields of activity, such as supervision of nature conservation, hunting and fishing industry, apiculture, recreation industry and many others, were developed in relation to an increase in the area of the state forest, the expansion of industrial activity and the increased work capacity after the major storm in 1967.
Forest districts were dissolved in 1992 and thus Marana forest base stopped operating in its original form.

Sources:
Etverk, I., Imet, K., Karoles, K. jt. 1998. Eesti riigimetsad ja nende majandamine 1918–1998
Etverk, I., Meikar, T.,Viilup, Ü. 2003. Pärnumaa metsad ja metsandus 20. sajandi teises pooles

Ado Kuldkepp, also known as Saeveski Paša (bassa), was the forest ranger at Saeveski at the end of the 19th century. A chatterbox as smooth as Old Bassa can seldom be found. He sprinkled his jokes and fibs with words of wisdom, indicating the depth of his character.
Several tales about Saeveski Paša have survived in legends, for example: it was a bleak winter with little snow so it was easy for the people to go and steal wood from the manor’s forest. It was hard for the forest ranger to keep track of everyone and catch the thieves. At the time, the newspaper „Postimees“ briefly reported on an orangutan that had escaped from the Riga Zoo. In order to scare people from going to the forest on their own, Aadu [Ado] told them that a “rangu-tang” or, as the people called it, “tang-urang” was lurking in the Saeveski forest. To make the people believe this, he put on a peculiar cone hat, wrapped himself in long sheets and walked on stilts in the forest so people could see him from afar.
The last Saeveski base was built in 1954 but was only in use for 4–5 years, as it had no electricity. The desolate building started to fall apart when the forest district turned it into a forest hut open for everyone.
The Saeveski forest hut is known among hikers. About 1,000 people a year write in its guestbook and in the summers the hut is usually occupied.

Sources: 
The Kuldkepp Family Chronicle

The Sagadi Forest District was officially assigned as an experimental forest district in 1931 along with the Porkuni, Sõmerpalu and Voltvet Forest Districts. The researchers of the forest were interested in “the pine forests on nutrient-poor sandy marine formations where the soil has been ruined by slash-and-burn agriculture and forest fires” in Sagadi.
Testing began right after it became an experimental forest district. Several subjects were studied under the leadership of Professor Andres Mathiesen, such as the suitability of shelterwood, narrow and small patch cutting for renewing spruce and pine forests, the growth cycle of the Jack pine (Pinus banksiana), as well as the effects of different pests. Sagadi Forest District was considered a great place for traineeships thanks to the varied research conducted there.
Experimental forest districts were closed down in 1954 and restored ten years later in 1964, when new experimental forest districts were formed on the basis of 12 forest districts (Aakre, Kabala, Kangruselja, Karksi, Kohtla, Kuuste, Roela, Sagadi, Tähtvere, Vardi, Vääna and Väätsa). The subjects studied at the Sagadi Forest District included managing heath forests as well as repelling the white pine blister rust and pine tortrix moth Uno Valk and Heino Kasesalu were appointed as instructors. Sagadi remained an experimental forest district until 1967. Experimental forest districts were eliminated in all of Estonia in 1993.

The fire lookout tower built in 1910 is the symbol of Sõõru Village. The proud iron structure tower is 37 metres tall. The tower was built over a hundred years ago to cover the fire lookout needs of the forest, as the local pine forests growing on the dry sandy terrain were highly flammable in the summer. The tower was renovated in 2007 after having fallen into disuse for a long time.
Wood structure towers were mainly used for fire lookout until the 1960s, which is why the Sõõru tower is so unique with its metal framework.
Many new fire lookout towers were built during the 1960s–1970s, the forest holdings received a lot of fire extinguishing equipment, and fire hydrants, firebreaks and forest roads were built. Thanks to all of that, forest fires were discovered and extinguished faster than before.
Fire lookout towers are no longer built in forest districts, as since 2007, RMK has used an electronic fire watch system to observe the forest in the Vihterpalu area on the border of Harju and Lääne counties because fires are especially frequent there.

NB! Climbing the tower is not allowed.

Fires have redesigned forests in every era and their effects can be observed decades later. Fires of natural origin can be started by lightning. For the most part, however, fires are caused by human negligence: carelessness when burning rubbish, making a fire, tossing matches or burnt cigarettes on the ground.