USE OF FOREST RESOURCES AND THE ORGANIZATION OF FORESTRY IN NORTHERN URAL MOUNTAINS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURIES
Authors:   Center for Forest Ecology and Productivity of Russian Academy of Sciences, Aleinikov A. A. ,   Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences
Published: October 2024

Forestry practices, including large-scale logging, have led to substantial and long-term alterations in the structure and composition of forest ecosystems. To understand the extent of these changes and identify remaining intact forests, a comprehensive land-use history is crucial. This helps reconstruct and identificate previous impacts, considering their magnitude and extent. Based on archival documents introduced into scholar discussions for the first time, the paper offers a precise comprehension of the extent of forestry growth and the organization of state forestry in the Northern Ural region. The study area covers the basins of the Kolva, a tributary of the Kama, which flows into the Caspian Sea, and the Upper Pechora, which flows into the Arctic Ocean. During the 19th century, this area had a sparse population and no road network. Today, it is a large, intact forest, with a portion designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site called 'Virgin Forests of the Komi'. The governance of the forest has undergone several changes. In the 1840s, the Cherdynsky district Estate was established in the Cherdyn municipality, covering an area of over 2.8 million hectares. In 1870, the region was split into Cherdynsky and Kolvinsky forest management departments. In 1894, the Kolvinsky district was again separated into three: Kolvinsky, Chusovsky, and Verkh-Pechersky departments. The forests in the Pechora River basin were appealing for foreign export markets. However, logging did not commence due to various reasons. The primary consumers of forest resources were the local inhabitants, who actively constructed boats of various sizes. For example, in 1876, around 1,800 trees of different sizes were cut down to build 15 vessels. The collection of construction timber annually in the 1880s did not surpass 10,000 trees. During the latter half of the 19th century, the mass logging of trees might have begun in the upper Pechora region. This was evidenced by the leasing of vast forested areas in the late 1890s by the Alfred Lidbeck’s Swedish company, with intentions to cut down approximately 2 million construction trees. Nevertheless, logging was not initiated due to the challenge of timber floating and the inadequacy of the workforce. During the same period, a metallurgical plant was established on a tributary of the Pechora. The company planned to cut down all forests along the rivers for fuel, but the factory ceased its operations after three years. The forests in the Kolva River basin provided the primary source of fuel for the salt production located on the Kama River. From the 1880s, between 22,000 to 30,000 cubic meters of firewood were collected annually. A significant amount of wood was employed in the construction of barges. By the end of the 19th century, the logging industry went through a reorientation. Logging activities for the harvest of saltwood and barge-building followed by the production of construction lumber for export to Volga markets replaced the focus on the logging industry, leading to approximately 50,000 log shipments yearly. Throughout the whole 19th century, the forests were left unexplored, without any management plans. There were no networks of roads in the area. Timber for building and barge construction was harvested selectively by landscape units. A few dozen trees of the required size were selectively harvested from each hectare. Clear-cutting sites for the harvesting of salt-wood were located no further than 1 to 3 kilometers from the majority of rafting rivers. The preserved archival materials are crucial for understanding past impacts and should be integrated into contemporary ecological research.