FEDERAL FOREST SERVICE - CUTTING UNLIMITED
  This month Federal Forest Service again opposed zapovednik (strict nature reserve) creation project. This time it was the Utrish nature complex in Krasnodar region. The letter by FFS officials rejecting zapovednik establishment project and addressing the Environmental Committee Chair stated the following cause: "The new zapovednik establishment will lead to the territory withdrawal out of forest use and thus any forest use related activities would be qualified as law violation and will leaad to legal prosecution". In plain Russian/English it means - "we are against zapovednik as we will be unable to cut there any more".

LENINGRAD OBLAST -VIOLATIONS GOING ON
  On October 14 Greenpeace press-conference made public results of joint forestry revision commission work results in Leningrad oblast (Podporozhsky district).
  This year revision completely repeated the previous year results, acquired through the work at Karelian isthmus. The Commission decision was that violations discovered through the work appeared to be typical for all Leningrad oblast forestry.
  The official bodies have almost no control of organizations that perform loggings within the oblast forest areas.
  They decide on they own what to log. As the result, having paid for aspen, the valuable fir trees are cut. The fine payments for violations are also neglected.
  As for state structures, leskhozes also are in violations, as due to the funding lack they have the only way to sustain themselves - to perform commercial loggings under the cover of sanitary loggings. Thus really all healthy trees are cut and no sanitary care of forest is taken.
  Due to various reasons Leningrad oblast became a raw material source for the western forest industry. This could happen only due to the irresponsible actions of official in charge of Leningrad oblast forestry.

TRN CONFERENCE DISCOVERS AND FIGHTS VIOLATIONS
  The 4 TRN Conference (Tartu - Varska, 4-10 October) participants discovered destructive activities presentaed as forest management in Otipaa park. The intense so-called selective loggings done through the whole park and even on the shore of the Pukhoyarve lake angered local people who opposed such practice violently and called on conference participants for support. We here include the full text of the letter

                                October 10, 1998

                                To the Environmental Commission
                                of Parliament of Estonia,
                                Minister of the Environment of Estonia,
                                Estonian Nature Conservation Inspection ,
                                Valga County Governor 
                                Otepää Municipality,
                                 Pühajärv Parish Council, and
                                All Other Interested Parties:

	We, the participants of the 4th International Conference of the Taiga
Rescue Network, held in Tartu and Värska on October 4-10, 1998, are deeply
concerned with the destruction of landscapes in Otepää Nature Park (Otepää
Looduspark).  Participants of our conference visited the Park and witnessed
serious degradation of its landscapes resulting from destructive land-use
practices that are unacceptable in such a protected area. Local citizens
pointed out some of the damaged natural areas  and asked for support from
the conference participants.   
	Extensive erratic selective logging conducted throughout the park, and even
on the Pühajärve lakeshore, leads to degradation of forests and loss of
their ecological, aesthetic, recreational and even commercial values.  
	The proposed development of country houses at new sites (such as Pühajärve
lakeshore), and the construction of new recreational facilities already
underway (such as Väike-Munamägi hill) contradict  the main objectives of
landscape preservation. They also lead to a decrease in the recreational and
aesthetic value on which the area's long-term economic well-being also depends. 
	We doubt  that many affected areas  could  be  damaged in this way without
violation of  Otepää Nature Park  conservation regulations. We believe that
the key reason for mismanagement of the Nature Park is that at present there
is no conservation authority interested in and capable of caring for this
protected area.  As you know, two years ago the park administration was
united with a local forest management unit in the course of  a so-called
"experiment."  As time has shown the forest management unit is neither
interested nor skilled in managing this protected area for nature
conservation and recreational purposes.

   Therefore, the undersigned participants of the conference request that you:
* stop the extensive selective logging,  particularly in  specially
protected zones of the Park
* avoid altering landscapes by construction on new sites;
* re-establish a separate conservation authority (Nature Park management
unit) that would be capable of  enforcing conservation regulations and
solving many specific problems of park management.

NEW PROSPECTIVES FOR NATURE CONSERVATION IN NORTHERN PART OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA
  In late September regional meeting "Establishment of specially protected territories network for North-West Part of European Russia - results and prospectives" was held in Vologda by vovlogda Environmnet Protection Committee. It attracted experts on nature conservation from 7 regions and republics from Northern Russia. The widely expressed opinion was that regional perotected area networks were insufficient for conservation of valuable northern nature systems. Thus, the establishment of new protected areas is needed, as well as interaction and cooperation at the interregional level on the issue. The meeting elaborated recommendations, most interesting excerpts of which we offer here.

:
1.2. To include into the adopted Program For Zapovednik and National Park Development until year 2005, in Karelia - national parks "Kalevalsky" and "Ladozhskye Shkhery"; in Arkhangelsk region - national park "Onezhskoye Pomorye" and national park at Belomorsko-Kuloisky Plato territory; in Murmansk region - "Khibiny" national park at Khibiny and Lovozero highlands.
1.3. To make the following changes in the Program adopted - for Karelia - to broaden Paanajarvi national park limits to the north up to the Murmansk Region boundaries, as well as to enlarge national park Vodlozarsky, zapovedniks Kivach and Kostamus; in Kirov oblast - to broaden Nurgush zapovednik.
1.4. To reserve for specially protected area establishment large taiga massives situated at the rivers Mezen and Vashka watershed? Vashka and Pinega? Pinega and Northern Dvina and at the upper Vashka (*here the largest undisturbed taiga territories in Europe are meant, situated on the Arkhangelsk regiona and Komi republic borders of total square 6 mln ha). 1.5. To include into national park Russky Sever boundaries dark-fir forests, neighboring the park area in the west and in the east. :::::::.
4. For the state environment protection entities of federation subjects
4.1. To consider the possibility of specially protected territories establishment on the federation subject borders:
* federal reserve "Veliky Andomsky Vodorazdel (The Great Andom Watershed)" (Vologda and Arkhangelsk regions, Karelia republic);
* Kutsa national park (Murmansk region and Karelia)
* national park "Veppsky les" - Leningrad and Vologda regions.

5. On European North regions and republics
5.1. Karelia
* to revise for optimization specially protected territory network of Beloye sea coastal zone
* to revise the hunt reserve for transfer of the part of them into all-time reserves
* to increase work on research and protection of small-area valuable nature objects, crating nature monuments and reserves

5.2 Komi republic
To draw republic government attention to the illegal practice of the use of national park Yugid-Va lands for mining.
5.3. Arkhangelsk region
* to address the governor, the governmnet and parliament of the region for aid in "program on specially protected territorie network development in Arkhangelsk region for years 1996-2005" realisation
* to establish national parks "onezhskoye Pomorye" and at Belomorsko-Kuloiskoye Plato.

5.4. Vologda oblast
* to establish landscape federal reserve in watershed junction zone of Atlantic, Arctic Oceans and Kaspian sea (ATLEKA)
* to transfer to the state nature federal reserve landscape reserves "Verkhne-Andomsky" and "Orlovskaya Roscha".
* to transfer state hydrology reserve "Shimozersky" into state comlex (landscape) reserve together with broadening of its limits and and transfer from regional to federal level.
* to create buffer zone around "Russky Sever" national park
* to create buffer zone around Darvin zapovednik within limits of Mologo-Sheksninsky peninsula and to support zapovednik initiative for its transfer to biosphere zapovednik level.
* to create reserve for rare bird species protection at Sheksna water reservoir, on the west coast of Beloye lake and on south-west coast of Vozhe lake.
* to conduct research of Konoshsky, Pychug-Vetluzhsky and Nizhe-Yerginsky landscape districts for comlex reserve creation within the territories mantioned.

5.5. Murmansk region
* to create "Khibiny" national park
* to broaden the territory of Laplandsky biosphere zapovednik, including Chiltald mountain massiv up to Verkhnetulomsky water reservoir coast.
* to start work on establishment of Murmansk tundra biosphere zapovednik on a base of Murmansk tundra and Ponoisky ornitological reserves.
* to establish comlex reserve "Kaita" within the mountain massive Kaita and upper Yena river.
* to establish "Kono-Umbsky" complex reserve on a base of Kolvitsky and Kanozersky reserves, including area between Bolshaia and Umba rivers.
Issued by:

• V. Zakharov forestnews@glasnet.ru
• O. Berlova press@cci.glasnet.ru
• Z. Garkun zng@glasnet.ru