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Russia, which contains about one-fifth of the world's forests and
about one-half of the world's coniferous forests, is one of the
leading producers of lumber and wood products. Most of Russia's
timber production consists of softwood, mainly varieties of pine,
fir, and larch. The principal commercial hardwood tree is birch.
About one-fifth of all timber felled is used as firewood, and
another fifth is used in raw form, for telephone poles, log cabins,
and other uses. Primary areas of timber production are northwestern
European Russia, the central Ural Mountains, southern Siberia in the
vicinity of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and far southeastern
Russia.
The most accessible and valuable stands of timber were heavily
harvested during the Soviet period, and less valuable tree species
have become dominant in many areas that were once prime forest land.
Remaining forests are located in less accessible areas of Siberia
and northern European Russia. These forests, especially in Siberia,
contain a high proportion of larch, a difficult and expensive
species to exploit because of its high density and resin content.
Large-scale exploitation of these less-accessible larch forests has
not proven to be cost-effective, due to difficulties in extracting,
transporting, and processing larch logs. Technological improvements
and changes in the world timber market, however, could make the
logging of larch forests more economically attractive.
Russia's forestry harvest was 269 million cu m (9.5 billion cu
ft) in the early 1990s; timber production was particularly affected
by the disruption of economic ties in the post-Soviet period. Timber
output in the first quarter of 1993 was 27 percent lower than
production levels at the same time in 1992, a higher percentage of
decline than that of the industrial sector.
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