By Nonna Chernyakova Forestry officials are limiting the Christmas tree harvest because hard times have reduced the market for them in the Primorye region. According to Anatoly Dudov, senior forester with the Primorye division of the Federal Forestry Survey, the number of spruces cut for holiday trees will be cut from 100,000 to 60,000. "People can't afford Christmas trees even for 10 rubles per meter, and last year, on the afternoon of Dec. 31, trucks would leave markets full of unsold spruces," he said. There are good reasons for clearing some parts of the taiga of young spruces, he added. Land needs to be cleared periodically under electric lines, in wood-cutting areas, and on trees plantations. But "spruce poachers" have been overdoing it. Foresters encourage only legal cutting, and they are fighting with people who sneak into suburban forests armed with an axe. Police have been posted on the main roads near Artyomovsky, Ussurisky, Shkotovsky, and other forestry farms. Poachers caught with illegal spruces will have to pay fines of 100 to 200 rubles per meter. "It is difficult to assess the damage the poachers cause," said Dudov. "The worst thing is that they cut spruces by the roads, where there is lack of them, and this harms the forest's balance." Despite the fall in demand, cutting spruces is profitable for those involved, and brings cash to all 31 forestry farms in Primorye. Chuguyevsky farm provides 14 percent of the spruces for the market, Shkotovsky 10 percent, and Krasnoarmeisky 9 percent, Dudov said. The federal budget doesn't finance tree farms, and so the harvesting of trees for Christmas and New Year has become a moneymaking tradition. Last year, the Primorye division of the Federal Forestry Administration earned 633,000 rubles ($35,000) selling spruces, and it used the money to guard and restore the forests. In 1997, the Vladivostok Forestry Farm involved Cossacks to guard plantations of young spruces. The cooperation proved to be successful, and federal foresters this year signed a contract with Cossacks for other forestry farms as well. Vitaly Poluyanov, ataman of the Ussurisk Cossacks Army, said this year Cossacks will also be authorized to check the spruce sales in the cities and to demand cutting permits from merchants. © copyright 1998 the Vladivostok News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any form. [Back to News page]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us]