New South Wales Department of Lands (c. 1880 – 2008) was the land management bureaucracy of the New South Wales government. It played a critical role in the development of the colony (or state, after 1901), allocating land to immigrants and managing the natural resources of the area. Even today, more than half of the land in New South Wales is 'crown land,' either protected land or lands with public use, such as airports or military bases. In recent years, moves have been made to restructure the bureaucracy and sell more crown lands for development purposes. Over the course of its existence, the Department published thousands of maps.