The Imperiia Project: a spatial history of the Russian Empire

Poacher's Delight

Despite decrees prohibiting the felling of oak trees, Admiralty officers often encountered decimated groves. Along the Volga and Kuban rivers, local authorities pointed the finger at Tatar populations, but Orthodox farmers in need of firewood were usually the guilty parties. In Murom district, on the left bank of the Kliazma River, the elderly remembered “great forests that have since disappeared. One can travel tens of kilometers without laying eyes on forest."

By 1828, frustrated authorities throughout the Volga region closed hundreds of roads leading to and through forests in a vain attempt to keep “vandals” away from naval groves and prevent would-be ships-of-the-line from instead falling victim to the peasant's axe and being sold as so much firewood.

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