Forests NSW is busy planting 3.6 million seedlings in the Central West around Bathurst, Lithgow and Orange in areas previously planted to pine, Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald, said today.

"The planting of 3300 hectares of plantation pine is progressing well," Mr Macdonald said.

"Early on the weather was quite mild, where we would have liked colder conditions, but since then weve had excellent rainfall and some good frosts and conditions couldnt be better."

Forests NSW establishment coordinator, Russell Riepsamen, based at Bathurst, said as part of the plantation life cycle, areas were harvested to provide sawlogs for the local timber industry.

"Following the final harvest these areas are re-established by planting approximately 1100 trees a hectare.

"Seedlings are raised by Forests NSW nurseries at Tumut, Narrandera and Grafton," he said.

Planting, which commenced in mid May and should finish by mid September, involves a mix of bare-rooted and containerised seedlings.

Mr Riepsamen said the planting season endeavored to make the most of the cooler and wetter months, as soil moisture was very important when establishing the seedlings. 

"The benefit of containerised stock is that if conditions are not right, the seedlings can be held until the optimum time to plant, and even held over to the following years planting season if necessary," he said

Mr Riepsamen said due to the scale of the operation the entire planting program had been contracted out to ensure planting could be completed in a tight timeframe. 

"Forests NSW crews are actively involved in a comprehensive quality control program that supports the work of the four contract planting crews and this involves more than 50 personnel," he said.

Photo available from sarahc@sf.nsw.gov.au

Media contact: Sarah Chester on (02) 6036 2110 or 0417 207 669