The article considers the process of evolution of the forest management system of the Russian Empire during the second part of the XVIII century which covers the periods of Elizaveta Petrovna, Peter III and Yekaterina II reign. The authors give the analysis of lawmaking activity devoted to the questions of forest protection from fires and illegal felling, formation of forest service and modernization of forest management. The emphasis is made on the questions of the affiliation of forests to the Russian Empire and changes in the organization of the noble Forest Service after the adoption of Manifesto 1762 and Charter to the nobilityof 1785. The article describes the idea of the importance of wooded areas not only as a source of raw materials but also as an independent economic object which gradually developed in the second part of the XVIII century. This was reflected in the reformation of Admiralty Board, land surveying and adoption of the draft of the Forest Charter of 1785. The authors reveal the peculiarity of Russian forestry in the period under study: inland wooded areas were not included in economic rotation.