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13Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences 2 (2009 2) 280-291
УДК 502.3 (571.5)(091): 061
Establishment and Development of Departments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation in Eastern Siberia (1946-1991)
Sergey T. Gaydin*
The Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University, 90, Mira, Krasnoyarsk, 660049 Russia 1
Received 23.03.2009, received in revised form 30.03.2009, accepted 6.04.2009
The given article considers the problems ofestablishment ofdepartments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation in Eastern Siberia. The author explains the role of the Communist party, of the Young Communist League and of trade union organizations in establishment of Conservancy Society's primary organizations and in increase of industrial workers' membership. The researcher also describes the problems of Conservancy Society's departments and primary organizations formation and management and determines their place in the control system of the Communist party's state environmental policy.
Keywords: All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation, Eastern Siberia, protection, Conservation Society's primary organizations, individual and common membership, section, social-technical committees.
Introduction
Salvation of ecological problems, upon which survival of the mankind depends, is impossible without wide public involvement. For this very purpose in the course of XX century there were formed public organizations of environmental orientation in different countries. Already in 1924 there was organized All-Russian Society of Nature Protection Contribution and Population Centers Beautification in the RSFSR, and in 1961 it was renamed in to All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation (ASNC).
Some aspects of ASNC's activity in 50-90-s were analyzed by N.V. Gonina and N.V. Savchuk in their historical surveys on the example of the Angara-Yeniseisk region: (Gonina, 2002; Savchuk, 2006, 2007, 2007а). Though, they did
* Corresponding author E-mail address: story@kgau.ru
1 © Siberian Federal University. All rights reserved
not consider the methods of Society's membership increase and the work of its departments on all the territory of Eastern Siberia, beginning from the first post-war years. The main goal of the given article is to research the activity, which concerns organization of departments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation on the territory of Eastern Siberia in 1946-1991, according to the growth of its rows and formation of its management structures, being responsible for ecological problems salvation in the sphere of industrial production. This work has been written in accordance with the approaches and traditions of ecological history, which originated in 70-s, XX century in developed countries, and which survey results were started to be published in Russia in the series «Modern Tendencies in
the Historical Science»: (The Man and Nature: Ecological History, 2008).
In September, 1946, the activity of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation was activated, after the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR had signed Resolution «On Nature Conservation on the Territory of the RSFSR» and proclaimed «Stalin's Plan of Nature Reorganization». In this connection they started creation of Society's regional departments in the European part of the country and in the course of two years, beginning in autumn, 1949, the number of its members was increased from 90 to 136 thousand people: (Barishpol and others, 1984: 59). But, in 40-50-s this process was not widely distributed in Eastern Siberia. Though, one of the first municipal departments of the Krasnoyarsk region was organized in Bogotol in autumn 19461.
But, our acquaintance with the periodicals of Eastern Siberia gives us a possibility to affirm, that already in the post-war period they carried out certain work in the region in order to form younger generations' love of nature, which was sooner connected with the up-brining of patriotic feelings in spite of the fact that there were no local departments of ASNC. For this purpose, they practiced many-days' journeys on foot for school classes and groups of schoolchildren of different age, what gave teenagers the opportunity to learn much about nature and to reveal themselves upon extreme natural conditions. Mass media were also engaged in formation of the population's solicitous attitude to nature, and, at the same time, were fulfilling the order of the Communist Party for up-brining a person - nature transformer. Thus, in February 1948, the novel «Swans' Friendship» by writer N. Ustinovich, having been published in the «Krasnoyarsk Worker» newspaper, was
A. Antonov. Nature Conservation Society in Bogotol / A. Antonov // The Krasnoyarsk Worker. - 1946. - 28 November.
subjected to criticism from the part of ideological officials. The novel was qualified as «backslide of mistaken judgments», which were condemned by the Party in the CC CPSU Resolution (the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), being published in «the Zvezda» and «the Leningrad» journals. There, they accused the author of that that he led his readers away in the world of birds and considered the nature to be more perfect, than the humane society2. But, if we abstract away from the ideological settings of that period, then today we may attach N. Ustinovich to the ecologically mature-minded publicists.
After the war, Eastern Siberia began to receive scientific literature, which influenced the formation of population's ecological knowledge. They began to sell subscriptions for the works of coryphaeus of Russian agricultural science such as I.V. Michurin, K.A. Timirjazev, V.V. Viljams, and V.V. Dokuchaev3. The nature of Eastern Siberia was reflected in the oeuvre of painters, and most of them became famous as masters of landscape painting. Love to the Siberia nature was formed by means of cinema and work of Regional Museums of Local Lore, History and Economy. They regularly demonstrated documental films from «Cinema-Atlas of the USSR» in cinemas and country clubs. In 1948, by the order of the Ministry of Cinematography of the USSR, documentary films about Kara Sea and Taimyr Peninsula were shot in Eastern Siberia4. At the same period, educational films «At Lake Baikal» and «Gold Mining in Siberia» were shot in the region by the order of the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR5. Eastern Siberia departments of
Discussion of the novel «Swans' Friendship» // the Krasnoyarsk Worker. - 1946. - 2 March. R. Makarova, Books of Russian Biologists to kolkhoz workers / R. Makarova // the Krasnoyarsk Worker. -1949. - 14 January.
Cinema-Atlas // the Krasnoyarsk Worker. - 1948. - 17 November.
New educational films // the Krasnoyarsk Worker. -1949. - 26 August.
All-Russian Society, which were responsible for political and scientific views outreaching, were actively engaged in propaganda of «Stalin's Plan of Nature Reorganization».
Today, one's attitude to this plan can be skeptical or negative, but nevertheless, it played a certain role in attracting the public to nature study, to planting of greenery and beautification of population centers, establishment of tree belt areas and fruit gardens in the post-war period. Propaganda of the Plan through the newspapers made some part of the population suggest measures concerning greenery planting of the cities, natural forests conservation, and careful usage of natural riches of the region. It is impossible to over-estimate the meaning of such an attitude, as far as it testified of the people's readiness to participate in nature protection, and that prepared conditions for a change to more active forms of environmental activity. Though, in comparison with European countries, where environmental organizations were formed owing to union of like-minded people, chief decision makers of the USSR chose the already existing All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation as an organizational form of society integration on the territory of the RSFSR.
The resolution on formation of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC was signed in 1954, and on formation of the Krasnoyarsk Krai Council of ASNC - in May 1956. A new impulse to establishment of Eastern Siberia ASNC departments was given in 1960 due to adoption of «The Nature Conservation Law in the RSFSR». Towards the beginning of 1966 there were already ASNC departments in the Irkutsk and Chita regions and in the Buryat ASSR. At that time, in the Krasnoyarsk Krai there were 16 municipal and regional departments of the Society and 15 out of them had been organized only in 1962-1963, they controlled 434 primary organizations and united 65 thousand people. Though, 22 regions of
the Krai did not have departments of ASNC yet1. At that time, the Irkutsk Oblast had 33 municipal and regional departments of the Society, which controlled 250 primary organizations and united 45 thousand people 2. The Chita Oblast Organization of ASNC was formed only in 1961, but there they possibly used all the experience and the arsenal of means for members' increase, which they had got in other regions. Towards the beginning of 1966, it consisted already of 203 thousand members, what overgrew the indicators of the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Irkutsk Oblast, being more populated3. But, the European part of the country significantly exceeded Eastern Siberia in such indicators of ASNC departments' work evaluation as the share of population, which was involved in their rows, and the payments of membership dues. If in the middle of 60-s, 12-14 % of the European part population were members of the Society, then only 2 % were its members in the Irkutsk Oblast, and 3,2 % of all the population - in the Krasnoyarsk Krai4.
We are to admit the fact, that in the course of all the given period the main increase of the Society members was due to involvement of schoolchildren and of students of elementary and intermediate professional education and of higher educational institutions. This task was solved on the level of directors of schools and colleges and higher educational institutions rectors, when pupils and students were automatically included into the rows of «nature preservationists». That is why managers of ASNC regional departments in Eastern Siberia paid special attention to involvement
1 The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part -1386. Register 1. Doc. 3755. List 26-28.
2 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 19. List 100.
3 The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -2429. Register 1. Doc. 1. List 45.
4 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. 3018. Register. 1. Doc. 19. List. 72; The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part - 1386. Register 1. Doc. 3755. List 26-28.
of precisely this very category of population in annual socialist obligations.
The matter was more complicated when it concerned the involvement of workers of industrial enterprises, regional forestry and timber industry enterprises into the Society's rows, as far as they needed weighty arguments to deal with and to motive them to join ASNC. For example, towards the beginning of 1966 adult population of the Chita Municipal Organization was a little more than 3 thousand people, or 27 % from its total number1. In the Irkutsk Oblast Organization it was also schoolchildren and students, who prevailed, while the share of adult population was only 15 thousand people, or about 30 % of all the Society's body2. It could be explained by the fact that municipal departments of the Society were on the stage of becoming. For example, in the Irkutsk Oblast: there were only 196 adult members in the Taishet Organization of ASNC, 220 - in Bratsk, 300 - Sljudjansk. Only the Angarsk municipal Organization of ASNC stood out against the background of other departments, as far as it united in its rows 3900 workers, clerks, and engineering-technical employees3. But, already on the initial stage of ASNC departments' formation, their primary organizations were sooner established with the help of administrative methods. That is when some part of people, being included into the lists of registration, was not even aware of their membership. In its turn, it created the problem of payment of membership dues. In particular, in 1965 the dues were paid only by 11 % of the active roll of all the members of the Irkutsk Oblast department of ASNC4.
1 The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -2429.
Register 1. Doc. 2. List 9.
2 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 19. List 95.
3 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 19. List 95.
4 The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond 3018. Reg-
ister 1. Doc. 19. List 72.
Responsibility for the Society's membership increase and for the growth of report indicators on the all-Russia level made regional councils of ASNC and party organs, being responsible for their work, take bureaucratic measures to increase ASNC numbers. Thus, in March 1966 the Cabinet Council of the Buryat ASSR directed executive committees of regional and aimak soviets of people's deputies to begin working and to establish primary organizations of ASNC, to involve collectives of industrial enterprises in to the rows of the Society5. In April 1966, the Nature Conservation Permanent Commission of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Soviet of People's Deputies addressed to the chairmen of regional executive committees with the same kind of directive. But, executive committees did not help everywhere. In August, 1966, in the letter to the Oblast Party Committee, the General Committee of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC wrote about the avoidance of chairmen of the Irkutsk, Ziminsk, Nizhneudinsk, and Ust'-Kutsk municipal executive committees and most regional executive committees of the oblast from contributing to the Society's departments formation. That is why at some regional enterprises the task of formation of ASNC primary organizations was delivered to primary party organizations. For example, in December 1966, at the Sherlovogorsk Mining and Processing Combine they made a decision on creation of Combine's ASNC primary organization and its bureau election at the Combine party conference, which was entirely dedicated to the consideration of this question6. Later on, in the Eastern-Siberian Region they also practiced to use the possibilities of party organizations, executive committees of soviets of people's deputies in order to create ASNC
The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic. Fond Part -49. Register 1. Doc. 64. List 2. The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -1703. Register 1. Doc. 81. List 58.
primary organizations in industrial collectives, in organizations and institutions. Management organs of ASNC regional departments paid special attention to admission of not individual, but collective members in order to increase the numbers of the Society's membership. For example, in March 1968, just in the course of one meeting, Presidium of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC admitted 152 regional enterprises to its collective members, and among them there were the Irkutsk Micaceous Factory, the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant, and the most part of regional forestry and timber industry enterprises of the Oblast1.
In 1966-1970, organizational measures, having been undertaken by the party and soviet organs, allowed to increase significantly the number of members in All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation. During these years the number of ASNC members in the Krasnoyarsk Krai grew up to 165 thousand people and made up 5.1 % from the total population of the Krai. At the beginning of 1971, there were 1478 primary organizations and 690 collective members2. In the Irkutsk Oblast, in the course of the 8-th five-year plan, the number of ASNC primary organizations grew from 250 to 844, and the number of ASNC members - from 45 to 138 thousand people3. In the Buryat ASSR, the number of members of ASNC Republic Organization increased form 34 to 64 thousand people during the period of 19661970, thereat the main growth was provided due to increase of the number of collective members in 108 times - from 3 to 325. But, even upon such a «collective» approach, to the beginning of 1971 the number of adult members of the Republic Organization was almost in 11 times less, than the
1 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 19. List 93; Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc.
41. List 163-165.
2 The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part -
1386. Register 1. Doc. 4671. List 16.
3 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 19. List 100; Register 1. Doc. 43. List 3.
number of schoolchildren and students4. At that time, most numerous organizations in industrial centers of Eastern-Siberian were: the Norilsk Municipal Organization of ASNC, which grew almost in ten times for that period and consisted of 30 thousand people, the Bratsk and the Angarsk Municipal Organizations, each of them consisted of more than 40 thousand people5.
In 70-s, as far as the country's environmental policy was activated, they took measures for ASNC membership increase, using the possibilities of other public organizations. In January 1972, Presidium of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of the Trade Union Committees obliged the Oblast, Territorial and traffic trade union committees to form primary organizations of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation in all the enterprises and institutions of the region. This action was carried out under the motto «Every member of the trade union is the member of the Nature Conservation Society»6. In spring 1973, such an action was carried out in the Buryat ASSR, where the main role was given to the collective of the Handagatajsk Timber Industry Enterprise7, and in other regions of Eastern-Siberian.
In Norilsk, in June 1974, the Norilsk city committee of CPSU, the city executive committee, the city committee of AULYCL, the territorial trade union committee and the directorate of the Norilsk Mining-and-Metallurgical Integrated Works adopted a joint resolution in order to activate the growth of ASNC members. This resolution required to establish primary organizations of the Society
The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic. Fond Part -49. Register 1. Doc. 145. List 1; Doc. 147. List 1. The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 3755. List 29; Doc. 43. List 4; Doc. 60. List 13.
The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 62. List 137, 139, 140. The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic. Fond Part-49. Register 1. Doc. 126. List 18.
in all the industrial enterprises, institutions, organizations, and educational institutions, and to form there public-technical committees and control posts of nature protection1. In November 1974, the party committee of the Baikalsk Pulp-and-Paper Plant directed the secretaries of the shop party organizations and the chairmen of trade union organizations to establish ASNC primary organization and its public-technical committee at the plant2. And in January 1977, the rows of ASNC primary organization at the Angarsk Cement-Mining Combine were also increased out of the members of its trade union, and elections of its new council were carried out directly at the report-and-election party meeting of the combine.
Taking into consideration youth system of the BAM constructors, establishers of primary organizations of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation on the territory of the Baikal-Amur Mainline were widely using the possibilities of Komsomol organizations. In 1975, only in Ust'-Kutsk region of the Irkutsk Oblast they contributed to creation of 12 primary organizations and recruited more than ten collective members in to the ASNC rows. They created the Council of Nature Conservation of the BAM western district, which was affiliated to the Ust'-Kutsk city committee of AULYCL3. Similar work was also carried out in the Buryat and Chita districts of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.
As far as the councils of Eastern-Siberian regional departments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation consolidated their position, they began to use their increased influence in order to enlarge the number of Society members. For example, in July 1973, Presidium of the
1 The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part-5117. Register 52. Doc. 18. List 217.
2 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast Contemporary History. Fond 5958. Register 1. Doc. 69. List 88.
3 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 165. List 31, 35; Register 1. Doc. 169.
List 3.
Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC suggested the Oblast Woodland Management and Association «Irkutsklesprom» to establish ASNC primary organizations in all new forestry and timber industry enterprises of the Oblast4. In 1974, the Chita Oblast Council of ASNC made a similar appeal to construction organizations, working at the Chita district of the BAM5. And since 1975, the Council paid special attention to collectives of industrial enterprises of Eastern Transbaikalia. At that time, as far as the Nature Conservation plans had become an obligatory part of annual plans of work of enterprises, directorate of these enterprises had to collaborate with ASNC. And in 1975, using that fact, the Council set a task to establish ASNC primary organizations in 60 % enterprises of the Oblast 6.
At the end of the 9-th five-year plan, the number of Society members in large industrial enterprises of the Region was significantly increased in the result of the work, having been done by party and Komsomol organizations, trade unions, and ASNC councils. Thus, there were more than 500 members of ASNC in the Timliujsk Cement Plant7, more than 2.5 thousand members - in the Ulan-Ude Locomotive-Car-Repair Plant 8, about 3 thousand members - in the Baikalsk Pulp-and-Paper Plant9, and more than 4 thousand members - in the Association «Angarsknefteorgsintez»10. ASNC organization of the Nerchinsk Polymetallic Combine was also referred to large ones: in its rows there were more
The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 17. List 21.
The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -2429. Register 1. Doc. 22. List 52.
The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -2429.
Register 1. Doc. 27. List 2; Doc. 31. List 4.
The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic.
Fond Part -475. Register 1. Doc. 1889. List 89.
The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic.
Fond Part -49. Register 1. Doc. 141. List 16.
The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 169. List 70.
The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 62. List 187.
10
than 40 % of all its collective, almost half the collective of the Bratsk Aluminum Plant were the members of the Society, and more than 80 % of all the workers of the Angarsk Cement-Mining Combine were in the rows of ASNC primary organization1. And all in all, in the period of 1971-1975, the Buryat Republic Department of Nature Conservation increased its numbers up to 176 thousand people, the Chita Oblast Department - up to 240 thousand people, the Irkutsk Oblast Department - up to 258 thousand, and the Krasnoyarsk Krai Department of ASNC increased its rows up to 410 thousand people 2.
Thus, having been worked out in the region, the system of population involvement into the rows of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation allowed continuously increasing the numbers of the Society. Towards the beginning of 80-s the Buryat Republic Department of ASNC increased the number of its numbers up to 221 thousand people, 43 % out of them referred to the adult population, thereat almost one fourths of ASNC organization numbers worked for industrial enterprises, forestry and timber industry enterprises3. The Irkutsk Oblast Department consisted of 258 thousand people, and 33 % out of the total number of ASNC members worked for industrial enterprises, forestry and timber industry enterprises 4. In the Chita Oblast, the share of people, working for industrial enterprises and timber industry, was a little more than 14 % of 300
The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part -2429. Register 1. Doc. 31. List. 22; The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 62. List 197. The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 165. List 97; The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic. Fond Part-49. Register 1. Doc. 137. List 3; The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond P-2429. Register 1. Doc. 26. List 6; The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part - 2232. Register 1. Doc. 12. List 1.
Calculated according to: the Buryat Republic Department of ASNC is appealing to XXVI Communist Party Congress. - Ulan-Ude, 1981. - P. 14, 15. Calculated according to: The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 308. List 49.
thousand people of the Chita Oblast Department of ASNC5. At the beginning of 80-s, the largest organization in the region was the Krasnoyarsk Krai Department of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation. It consisted of more than 470 thousand people, among whom children and youth prevailed. Towards the beginning of 1985, the Krasnoyarsk Krai Department of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation increased its rows up to 620 thousand people 6. By that time, the Buryat Republic Department united almost 30 % of more than one million population of the autonomic republic7.
Along with the work concerning the growth of ASNC rows, party organs were also engaged in recruitment of executive structures for its regional departments. There were created councils in order to govern ASNC departments of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Buryat Republic, the Irkutsk Oblast and Chita Oblast, and there were correspondingly formed municipal and regional councils of ASNC departments in cities and region. Supervisory control of ASNC departments was performed by Councils' presidiums; scientific-technical councils were engaged in development of the main types of activities of the regional councils, and scientific-technical commissions dealt with municipal and regional councils. Within the councils there were created sections, which headed conservation work in concrete directions, such as protection of water, atmosphere air, subsurface resources and others. This work was performed with more success in those cases, when to the places in councils, commissions and sections they «elected» specialists, who were connected with salvation of the same
Calculated according to: The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part - 2429. Register 1. Doc. 47. List 28. The Current Record Office of the Regional Department Council of ASNC. Council Reports for 1984. Ju. Budaev. In Response for the Nature / Ju. Budaev // Pravda of Buryat. - 1987. - 6 March.
problems at their key jobs, for which they were socially responsible according to the party line. Due to their job positions, these specialists had an access to certain necessary information and had administrative opportunities to involve the institutions and organizations, which they administered, to the work of social structures, which they headed. Thereat, their social work was a segment of their official professional activity. Thus, for many years V.R. Ogloblin, the head of the Watershed Inspection, was the head of the water conservation section of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC, and the section of atmosphere air conservation of the Chita Oblast Council was administered by I.A. Zil'bershtejn, the director ofthe Oblast Hydro-Meteorological Observation. The work of the section of subsurface resources conservation of the Chita Oblast Council was administered by A.S. Babikin, the head of the Geological Administration, who for many years was also elected as a chairman of the constant commission of the Oblast Nature Conservation Council of Peoples' Deputies. He put into practice co-joint meetings of the constant commission of the Oblast Nature Conservation Council of Peoples' Deputies and the section of subsurface resources conservation of the ASNC Oblast Council. Using the possibilities of all three structures, being headed by him, he managed to use his position for the better of each of them. Many times the section co-inspected the work of enterprises of the Oblast nonferrous-metals industry together with the officers of the people's control, of State Mining and Safety Organization, and with social inspectors. At their co-joint meetings, they summed up preliminary results of inspections, which afterwards were passed for discussion to the constant commission of the Oblast Nature Conservation Council of Peoples' Deputies, and in case of necessity to consideration of the Executive Committee of the Oblast Council of Peoples' Deputies. Thus, they
achieved making of decisions, being necessary for environmental protection. In the result, they inspected the work of all the ore mining and processing organizations of the Oblast and took measures for enhancement of mineral resources loss, complex usage of crude ore, and restoration of disturbed lands. And, when there were reelections to ASNC department councils for the next period, they used to recommend specialists, who were capable to provide efficient work of these or those directions of the Society, because of their official position.
Formation of ASNC municipal and regional councils was carried out according to the same principle, as the formation of republic, regional and oblast councils of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation, i.e. in dependence on specialization of the national economical complex, on the territory of cities and regions and on presence of qualified specialists for establishment of sections and committees. Mostly complicated was the problem of recruitment of scientific-technical commission members in small towns, where there was only one town-forming enterprise. Usually, being elected to a scientific-technical commission, specialists of such enterprises were guided by departmental interests and official subordination at their key jobs. And that is why having been established under the pressure from above, some part of scientific-technical commissions of municipal and regional councils of ASNC turned out to be legally incompetent and ceased their existence. Thus, at the beginning of 80-s there had been left only 10 scientific-technical commissions, working in the Chita Oblast1.
Since the moment of their organization, the main activity lines of department councils of all the levels of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation in Eastern Siberia were
1 The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part - 2429.
Register 1. Doc. 52. List 1.
the formation of population's environmental type of thinking, diagnosis of air and water basins conditions, identification of the natural resources utilization level, working up proposals and recommendations as for the party and soviet organs, so for concrete enterprises, organizations and institutions, concerning their environmental work improvement and involvement of primary organizations' members into a concrete work for natural environment protection and rational utilization of natural resources.
One of the main directions of sections' work was to reveal the real state of things at separate enterprises, branches and populated areas, as far as organization of appropriate environmental activity was impossible without it. For example, in the middle of 60-s, the forests conservation section of the Irkutsk Oblast Council of ASNC found out, that on all the territory of the Oblast there were used only not more than 20 % of all the felling funds, thereat, one could observe an over-usage of the felling area in the transport-assimilated part of the Oblast1. In its turn, the inspection of water utilization at the Krasnoyarsk Krai enterprises, which was performed by the waters conservation section, showed that, in the period of 1964-1968 the usage of recycling water at the Krasnoyarsk enterprises was increased in five times, though more than 1.6 million m3 of waste waters were disposed into water reservoirs still untreated or under-purified2. For the first sight, ASNC activists revealed obvious facts, but at the beginning of 70-s, before the main line of the state ecological policy was announced, such a piece of information was an internal affair of the directorate of branch enterprises and was not the matter of high priority, demanding urgent salvation. But now, having been analyzed by the specialists and been brought to the attention of
1 The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018.
Register 1. Doc. 19. List 78, 79, 83.
2 The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai. Fond Part -
1386. Register 1. Doc. 4097. List 1, 57.
the party and soviet organs, the information was becoming the one, which demanded necessary salvations and control over their execution.
The work of the section of ecological situation control was simultaneously creating the conditions for its normalization, as far as in the course of inspections, the section collaborated with the organs of people's control, sanitary and epidemiological service, State Mining and Safety Organization and other controlling organs, which had a right for imposition of fines on environmental legislation breakers. According to the results of inspections, the top-managers of enterprises were handed out corrective measure directions, and that gave an opportunity to solve some problems immediately. And in case of their refusal to follow the directions, the inspection data were brought up for discussion at the meetings of party and soviet organs, and, in their turn, these organs addressed the government of the country, ministries and government agencies, impose political sanctions on the top-managers and raised questions concerning the degree of their service adequacy. Thus, management structures of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation were quite quickly involved into the co-joint activity with party and soviet organs and became a part of governmental system, being responsible for concrete lines and sections of environmental activity. In the region, they practiced to involve ASVC councils and their sections for working out party and soviet organs' resolutions, which concerned ecological problems salvation.
One of the main lines of All-Russian Nature Conservation Society's activity was to attract rank-and-file members to personal participation in salvation of ecological problems. It was achieved by means of collaboration of ASNC councils with those organizations, which had had the experience of involvement of workers and engineering and technical specialists in concrete individual and collective works. From this point
of view, collaboration with departments of AllUnion Society of Inventors and Efficiency Experts (ASIE) and with branch councils of the Scientific-Technical Society was most resultative. It gave a possibility to announce annual competitions for the best inventions or rationalization proposals of environmental character, as on the level of separate enterprises, so on the level of regions. Thus, in 1968, the Krasnoyarsk Krai and the Chita Oblast Councils of ASNC and ASIE announced a competition for the best proposals for improvement of gas and dust collecting devices in the Krai and for mineral resources loss enhancement in the process of mining in the Oblast.
Though, analysis of the environmental work of the Eastern Siberia industrial enterprises in 60-s proved that directorate of the enterprises allowed the activity of ASNC primary organizations only in those forms, which did not contradict their industrial interests. It was explained by the fact, that in order to eliminate the regulation breaches, having been revealed in environmental legislation, they needed to invest significant sums of money, to carry out industrial modernization, to change their technologies, to improve their employees' qualification and other expensive measures.
Creation of social-technical committees on the basis of primary organizations was a certain step forward to organization of systematic environmental work of public at the enterprises. Already since the end of 60-s, Presidiums of all the regional councils of Eastern Siberia required to form them everywhere. But only in 1975 directorate of the enterprises had to agree with the necessity of their formation, when ecological sections were included in to the working plans of industrial enterprises. In the result in 1976, such committees were managed to be created at 13 enterprises of the Chita Oblast and 14 enterprises of the Irkutsk Oblast. Toward 1981, more than 180
enterprises of the Krasnoyarsk Krai had social-technical committees (Savchuk, 2007: 183), there were such committees almost at 60 enterprises of the Irkutsk and Chita Oblasts, at the Aircraft Factory and the Locomotive-Car-Repair Plant in Ulan-Ude, at the Timliujsk Cement Plant, at the Seleginsk Pulp-and-Paper Plant and some other enterprises of the Buryat ASSR1. Though, even in the middle of 80-s many enterprises of Eastern Siberia did not have social-technical committees.
Sometimes, creation of social-technical committees, being responsible for the development of the main lines of the enterprises' environmental activity, brought to intersection of their competency sphere with the competency of the enterprises' directorate. There was found the following way out of the situation: most social-technical committees were headed by the leading specialists of the enterprises. And afterwards, they began to perform the functions of technical councils of the enterprises, which managers and employees were personally responsible for the ecological component of their work. In spite of the fact that their working plans were approved by ASNC primary organizations and by the directorate of enterprises, social-technical committees were mainly an instrument of the directorate, because they developed and brought to life environmental protection measures by the agreement with branch ministries and within the frames of appropriated financing. Moreover, working plans provided usage of the ASNC primary organizations' potentials. Social-technical committees had freedom of action in those cases, when ecological problems could be solved at the expense of organizational and technical possibilities, which did not demand any
1 The Record Office of the Chita Oblast. Fond Part - 2429.
Register 1. Doc. 42. List 11; The Record Office of the
Irkutsk Oblast. Fond 3018. Register 1. Doc. 198. List 5;
Technical Headquarters of Nature Protection // Pravda of
Buryat. - 1980. - 11 December.
significant financial expenditure. Especially those actions were praised, which were simultaneously of economical and ecological effect.
Organization of social-technical committees can be considered as a consummation of formation of the management structure of regional departments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation, which consisted of social-technical councils of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Buryat Republic, the Irkutsk and Chita Oblast Councils of ASNC, social-technical commissions of municipal and regional ASNC departments and social-technical committees of ASNC primary organizations. It allowed involving engineers and other technical workers of the enterprises, activists of primary organizations to ecological problems salvation. Though, analysis of the archive materials concerning the regional departments' activity all though the considered period let us affirm that in spite of a large number of All-Russian and regional ASNC actions, being carried out in Eastern Siberia, most part of Society's rank-and-file members were still not involved. The only and really mass event of the environmental character was ASNC members' participation in greenery planting, beautification and imposing of sanitary order. But, as a rule, these actions had seasonal pattern and were conducted under the guidance of the party, soviet and administrative organs. And the participants of greenery planting usually identified themselves with work collectives, but not with their membership in All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation, and when they were asked about their participation in ASNC primary organizations' work, most of the respondents hardly knew what to answer.
Conclusions
The given research work allows us affirming that creation of departments of All-Russian Society of Nature Conservation in Eastern Siberia and growth of its numbers were connected with the necessity of involvement of population in realization of the environmental policy of the party and the state. Having been formed in the region, management structures of the Society's local departments were involved in collaboration with the party and soviet organs and became a part of management system, which was responsible for concrete directions and sections of nature protection work, they were controlled by these organs and reported to them. Society's primary organizations were defined as a concrete form of society mobilization in order to fulfill certain environmental tasks. In most cases, they did not appear as a result of integration of people, sharing common ideas, but as a consequence of task-oriented actions of the party, soviet and other organs. That is why under the conditions of perestroika, ASNC dissolution, first of all, began from the closedown of the most part of its primary organizations, when influence of the party organizations became weak, those organizations, which had played the leading role in creation of ASNC regional departments in Eastern Siberia, in increase of their membership numbers, and in the organization of Society's activity. And, since then and up to the collapse of the Soviet Union, environmental activity of the regional people was mainly in the sphere of personal interests and demands, as it used to be in developed world countries, but not in the sphere of industrial activity, as it had used to be in the USSR.
References
I.F. Barishpol. The Nature has Millions of Friends / I.F. Barishpol, V.G. Larina. - Moscow: Forest Industry, 1984. - 160 p.
N.V. Gonina. Historical Experience of Environmental Management in the Angara-Yenisei Region (1945-1970) / N.V. Gonina: thesis synopsis of Cand. Sc. {History}. - Krasnoyarsk, 2002. - 29 p.
N.V. Savchuk. The Angara-Yenisei Region: Social-Ecological Problems of Economical Development (1950-1990) / N.V. Savchuk. - Angarsk: AGTA, 2006. - 294 p.
N.V. Savchuk. Social Sphere of the Angara-Yenisei Region under the Conditions of Ecological Instability (1950-1990) / N.V. Savchuk. - Angarsk: AGTA, 2007. - 200 p.
N.V. Savchuk. Social-Ecological Problems of Economical Development of the Angara-Yenisei Region (1950-1990) / N.V. Savchuk: thesis synopsis of Doc. Sc. {History}. - Irkutsk, 2007. - 50 p.
The Man and the Nature: Ecological History/under the general editorship of D. Aleksandrov, F.-J. Brjuggemajer, Ju. Lajus. - St. Petersburg: the St. Petersburg European University; Aletejja, 2008. -349 p.
Sources
The Record Office of the Irkutsk Oblast (ROIO)
The Record Office of the Newest History of the Irkutsk Oblast (RONHIO)
The Record Office of the Krasnoyarsk Krai (ROKK)
The Record Office of the Chita Oblast (ROCO)
The National Record Office of the Buryat Republic (NROBR)
