Lesniki and Leskhozy - Life and Work in Russia's Northern Forests

This paper examines the history of forestry in the Russian North through a study area in the North Urals. The relationships between the local leskhozy (forestry enterprises) and the lesniki (forestry workers) and the environment are contrasted. The paper explores four key aspects: exile, planned production, decline in rural population and environmental problems which characterised the Soviet period, and links these to conditions in the region post-1991, drawing on archival sources, contemporary accounts from the Soviet period and fieldwork in the study area.