The right of moving in the woods

Many people in Austria like to take a walk in the environments, and they may ask: Is it allowed to leave the marked trail in a privat forest? Is it allowed to ski in the woods or to climb over a fence around a mountain pature over the tree line? Or it may be asked theother way round: Is it the right of the owner to close his wood with a fence to the public?

Here is the answer:
This matter is regulated in the Austrian Forstgesetz, this is a Bundesgesetz, that means it applies to all of Austria:
§ 33 Forstgesetz says: “Everybody is allowed to go through the woods and spend time there, exceptional the cases of the next two sentences and the case of § 34.
These exceptions are:
special places for storage
forestations with young trees not taller than three meters
§ 34: temporary closures of the woods are only allowed in the following cases:
for building sites
for areas of forest blowdown (windthrow)
for scientific purposes
for pest control.
and these temporary closures must not last longer than four months, or a permission from the authority is demanded.
Permanent closures are only allowed in the following cases:
a) for special cultures like Christmas trees
b) for animals in zoos
c) around the residence of the wood-owner in an area of maximum 5000 m² or 5 % of the woods.
Other permissions to close woods to the public are only given in cases of special dangers like avalanches or fire.
An allowed closure of the woods has to be published with special boards (signs) on all roads and paths entrances. In case of a temporary closure the beginning and the end of the closure has to be written on the board. In cases of a closure for more than four months also the number of the notification (official permission) must be written down there.
These regulations apply also to skiers with one exception: It is not allowed to ski in forests immediately surrounding ski-lifts.
Unfortunately these regulations do not apply to horse-riding, mountain-biking, and to camping overnight.
Similar regulations exist for pastures over the tree line.
So summarized in Austria hikers and skiers on tour are generally allowed to leave marked trails in public and private woods, and on pastures over the tree line. So the public is also allowed to climb over pasture fences - on their own risk. Furthermore an owner of woods is not allowed to close his woods for the public besides the legally permitted cases that are named above.