Objectives:
The purpose of this paper was to investigate whether the disbursement of funds at the disposal of the State Forests National Forest Holding corresponded to the tasks in the field of forest management imposed on the institution in question under the provisions of applicable law and whether it was justifiable in the context of the principle of rational management of public funds.

Material and methods:
The research was based on the analysis of the secondary data collected by the Directorate General of the State Forests, official statistical data, post-audit information of the Supreme Audit Office and literature covering the research area.

Results:
The results of research carried out on the basis of data from 2011-2018 showed that the general property and financial situation of the State Forests in the analysed period was favourable due to the fact that each year the aforementioned institution recorded a significant net profit.

Conclusions:
The activities implemented by the State Forests were in principle compatible with a model of sustainable forest management specified in the Forest Act, however in case of incurring investment outlays of fixed assets not directly related to forest management, the principle of rational management of public funds was not always fully applied. Therefore, the conscious economic calculation should constitute the basis for conducting investment activities by the State Forests.