Regional and local authorities’ activity in the field of nature protection in 1918-1950s (on materials of the archives of the Middle and Lower Volga region)

The study of various aspects of interaction between society and nature at the present time is not only of interest to ecologists, but also for specialists in the field of Humanities, particularly historians. This article discusses the history of formation and development of a regional system of management of nature protection in the Middle and Lower Volga region. The author describes main issues related to the state forest Fund of the region in 1918-1950-s and the measures taken by the Executive committees of local Soviets at various levels to address their consequences. The main directions of environmental activities of local governments are considered: protection of forests against fire, theft and infestations of pests, the creation of protected areas, to combat poaching, the accomplishment and gardening of settlements. The sources for the preparation of the article were, basically, documents of regional archives of the Central state archive of Samara region, the State archive of Ulyanovsk region, the State archive of Penza region, the State archive of Saratov region, the National archives of the Republic of Tatarstan, Samara oblast state archive of socio-political history, as well as materials of local periodicals. A significant number of archival documents are for the first time introduced into scientific circulation, which is the scientific novelty of the research.