In Pärnu County, large tracts of forest and a river system suitable for log-floating made Pärnu an important centre for timber processing and exports. Even the modest Sindi Manor, which possessed little arable land, and mostly sandy land at that, held significant forested areas.
In 1920 the manor forests were nationalised and merged with state forests. Dendrologist Karl Aun was appointed as the forest warden of Pärnu County, overseeing a total of 13 forest districts and their foresters, rangers and timber inspectors. In 1925, the State Forest Industry was established under the Ministry of Agriculture, tasked with harvesting timber and supplying local residents, businesses and municipalities with timber and products. In 1937 the industry was transformed into a state joint-stock company, Eesti Metsatööstus (the Estonian Forest Industry).
At the start of the Soviet occupation, private forests were also nationalised, and all timber processing was absorbed into the planned economy. Forest industry centres were established in each county. At the time, there were 12 forest districts in Pärnu: Audru, Jäärja, Kariste, Kilingi, Kõnnu, Laiksaare, Lodja, Orajõe, Pärnu, Taali, Tihemetsa and Vändra.
In 1947, the next major change took place when forest managements were separated from the forest industry centres, as forest management companies were responsible for the reforestation, maintenance, supervision, protection and utilisation of the forests. In total, 19 forest managements were established across the Estonian SSR, two of them in Pärnu County: Pärnu Forest Management and Kilingi-Nõmme (Model) Forest Management. For the Pärnu management unit, an office was initially set up on the former premises of Pärnu City Forest Office in Raeküla, on the outskirts of the city.
In 1992, after Estonia had regained its independence, the forest management companies were dissolved and tasks related to forest management were initially taken over by the State Forest Board. Since 1999, the management of state forests has been handled by the State Forest Management Centre.
The predecessor of Reiu Forest District was the pre-war Reiu forest division of the Pärnu City Forest District, which included ranger posts such as Niidu, Rae, Kullipesa and Tamme. On the state forest side, the Surju Forest District existed, which from 1935 was known as the Pärnu District of State Forests.
The independent Reiu Forest District was formed in 1947 by separating it from the Surju Forest District and incorporating sections from several other districts. Reiu was tasked with managing the forests surrounding Pärnu, forming the city’s ‘green belt’. These were Category 1 forests in which clear-felling was prohibited. For decades, the Reiu Forest District office was located in Raeküla, under the same roof as the forest management headquarters. In 1983, the office building of the Reiu Forest District was constructed here, on lands of the former Sõmera Farm (at Paide mnt 14).
Although the office building included two apartments, construction of a two-storey residential building with apartments for employees of Pärnu Forest Management commenced in 1985. Later, additional two- and three-storey apartment buildings were added.
In 1997, the Reiu Forest District was merged with the Surju and Taali Forest Districts, with most employees moved to the Surju Forest District office. Subsequently, the office building here was extensively renovated, becoming the home of the Southwest Department of the Forest Management Economics and Information Centre (the predecessor of the State Forest Management Centre or RMK) in autumn 1998.
Today, the RMK’s Southwest Region includes 15 forest districts in four counties.
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