The federal Minister for forests has said this week's NSW mini-budget will lead to worse land management in forest areas

Australian Forestry and Conservation Minister Senator Ian Macdonald has said that the mini-Budget bought down by the NSW Government today means that even greater pressure will be put on the management of national parks.

He also said that green groups would be outraged because the changes would undermine the ability of the State government to deliver on political promises to green groups.

Minister Macdonald criticised the Carr Government for creating “huge tracts of national parks” out of what were previously sustainably managed production forests. He said the motivations had been for “political reasons” rather than for sound land management.

"One of my concerns with the creation of new national parks is that fire management and fuel reduction strategies in the forests, and the management of feral animals and weeds, would need to be upgraded.

"Previously, much of the management work was undertaken by the forestry agencies at no cost to the tax payer.

"Frighteningly, increases in the areas of national parks hasn't been accompanied by increases in budgets.

The Minister said the mini-Budget would make land management even move difficult.

"The Carr Government went out of its way to garner green second preferences at the last State election ,” said the Minister.

“I now await the cries of outrage from the radical greens as they see the departments involved in the environment and natural resource management decimated by a State Government desperate to overcome its poor financial management.”