Amateur hunters will be allowed back into about 200 state forests from next month after the NSW government announced it would restart the controversial program with extra safety measures, including mandatory GPS devices.

Hunting in state forests has been suspended since last July when the government received a damning report on the management of its regulator, the Game Council of NSW.

Hunting will be allowed in state forests again. Credit:Nick Moir

The agency was abolished and its functions taken over by the Department of Primary Industries.

At the time Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said hunting would not resume until a new risk assessment by the Forestry Corporation was carried out.