TO ALL PROVINCIAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES AND PROVINCIAL LAND DEPARTMENTS

The Council of People's Commissars has decided to suspend, on the terms set forth below and until a new special decision*, the collection of firewood by the personal labor of foresters, assistant foresters, and forest rangers, assigning them the duty to exert all efforts to prevent and extinguish fires through: 1) general strengthening of constant supervision, especially in areas prone to fires, such as along railway lines and major roads, at sites where timber is stored, uncleared logging areas, and peat bogs; 2) setting up a network of observation points and regular patrols of the forest areas; 3) immediate organization of the clearance of logging areas from felling residues; and 4) mandatory personal participation in extinguishing fires. Special reports must be drawn up for all instances of involvement in other work, such as participating in fire-fighting or in digging trenches, etc., certifying the intensive work of the forest administration. Responsibility for implementing all the measures indicated is placed on the foresters. Provincial Land Departments are required to provide the Central Forestry Office weekly with information on the progress of work to prevent and extinguish fires and on the participation of the forest administration in this effort.

Without precise and detailed protocols and reports, failure of the foresters to perform their duties will be considered a criminal offense.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars Lenin*

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Written in August, not earlier than the 11th - not later than the 13th, 1920.

First published in 1959 in the Lenin Collection XXXVI

Printed from the typescript

* The words "until a new special decision" and the last paragraph of the telegram are written in V. I. Lenin's handwriting. Ed.