Statskog is a Norwegian

state-owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

responsible for the management of state-owned

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

and

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more genera ...

totaling approximately 20% of the

area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an op ...

of Norway. About 5% of Statskog's land is productive forest while 80% is above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

. The company has its headquarters in Namsos. In southern Norway the operations of productive forestry is conducted by Statskog-Borregaard Skogsdrift AS, a joint venture between Statskog and

Borregaard Borregaard is a Norwegian company, established in 1889 in the southeastern town of Sarpsborg in Østfold county. Its main products were traditionally pulp and paper. The company later started producing chemicals based on timber as a raw mat ...

. Across the country Statskog also manages

hunting Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

licences and allows for travel and tourism in nature.

History

Emblem of the Norwegian Directorate of the State Forests

Statskog was established in 1860 as Statens skovvæsen and was organized under the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. In 1957 it was separated from the Ministry of Agriculture under the name Direktoratet for statens skoger. It changed its name and underwent reorganisation in 1992–1993, and the head office was moved from Oslo to Namsos. While it presently owns a fifth of the land of Norway, until July 1, 2006 it owned a third. As of that day all properties in

Finnmark Finnmark (; se, Finnmárku ; fkv, Finmarku; fi, Ruija ; russian: Финнмарк) was a county in the northern part of Norway, and it is scheduled to become a county again in 2024. On 1 January 2020, Finnmark was merged with the neighbour ...

(a total of 95% of the land in the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

) were transferred to the Finnmark Estate. Between 300,000 and 400,000 cubic meters are felled annually in Statskog-owned forests by hired contractors. The timber is then used for a variety of commercial purposes. Statskog is certified according to

ISO 14001 ISO 14000 is a family of standards related to environmental management that exists to help organizations (a) minimize how their operations (processes, etc.) negatively affect the environment (i.e. cause adverse changes to air, water, or land); (b) ...

, which pertains to the appropriate management of forests. Recently, the company has begun offering a range of tourist-oriented services designed to attract visitors to the various properties across the country, including national parks such as Reisa National Park. Cabin rentals are available online and feature a range of accommodation options.

References

Companies established in 1860 Forestry in Norway Forestry agencies (parastatal) Government-owned companies of Norway Real estate companies of Norway Organisations based in Namsos Ministry of Agriculture and Food (Norway) {{forestry-agency-stub