The White Horse Press Full citation: Moran, Dominique. "Lesniki and Leskhozy: Life and Work in Russia's Northern Forests." Environment and History 10, no. 1 (February 2004): 83–105. http://www.environmentandsociety.org/node/3189. Rights: All rights reserved. © The White Horse Press 2004. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism or review, no part of this article may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including photocopying or recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission from the publishers. For further information please see http://www.whpress.co.uk. Lesniki and Leskhozy: Life and Work in Russiaʼs Northern Forests DOMINIQUE MORAN International Development Department University of Birmingham Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK Email:
[email protected] ABSTRACT 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. KEYWORDS Soviet forestry, forced labour, planning, Soviet environmental policy This paper seeks to contrast two relationships: that between the forestry enter- prises (leskhozy), and the environment in which they operated, and the forestry workers (lesniki), and the environment in which they lived and worked.