Forests NSW is busy planting 4.4 million seedlings in the south west slopes around Tumut, Batlow and Tumbarumba in areas previously planted to pine, Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald, said today.

"The planting of 4400 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."

He said approximately 2500 hectares of pine was being planted in the Bondo area near Tumut with the remainder to be planted around Batlow in Green Hills State Forests and at Carabost near Rosewood.

"This replanting program is part of a longer-term program, which includes the re-establishment of almost 9000 hectares burnt in the Billo Road Fire in December 2006, across a five-year period," Mr Macdonald said.

Forests NSW acting establishment coordinator, Melanie Klootwijk, based at Tumut, 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 1000 trees a hectare.

"Most of the seedlings are raised by Forests NSW nursery near Blowering Dam. Seedlings are also being sourced from Forests NSW Narrandera nursery and from Tasmania and South Australia," she said.

Planting, which commenced at the start of June and should finish by mid September, involves a mix of bare-rooted and containerised seedlings.

Ms Klootwijk said the planting season endeavored to make the most of the colder and wetter months, as soil moisture was very important when establishing the seedlings. 

"The beauty 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," she said

Ms Klootwijk said due to the scale of the operation, additional labour had been employed to ensure planting could be completed in a tight timeframe. 

"As well as Forests NSW crews, this planting season we are employing seven contract planting crews and this involves about 100 personnel," she said.

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