Letters From the Cabin - A lone Russian crusader takes on the Communist bureaucracy to protect a forest home of the rare black stork

International Wildlife, Nov-Dec, 2001 by Laura Williams

Igor knew that black stork populations were declining worldwide and had disappeared from many parts of Western Europe. Extremely cautious birds, black storks only nest in old forests far from humans. There, they search for trees large enough to support their massive nests, which can stretch five feet across and weigh several hundred pounds. Throughout Europe and Russia, logging was leaving few such trees. The bird's diet of fish, frogs and mollusks depended on shallow wetland areas, many of which were being drained for farming. Igor believed that the Bryansk Forest, with its impassable swamps and old trees, was ideal habitat for the black stork.

Soon, Igor rebuilt and moved into the forest cabin, even though it meant walking six miles to the school to teach every day. His new home was only half a mile from a huge, unexplored swamp, and one day in 1982, he set out to investigate it. Half swimming, half crawling, he worked his way across the mucky bog onto a small island of alder trees. There, he spotted a large black stork nest high in the crook of a tree. Overwhelmed by his find, he hopped a victory dance right there in the bog with mosquitoes swarming around his head. That same day, he found a second black stork nest in a giant pine tree.

Igor wrote about his findings in the region's only newspaper--the Bryansk Worker. Under the title "Letters From the Cabin," he described the endangered black stork, the untamed Nerussa River and the serenity of the Bryansk Forest. He noted threats to the forest and its inhabitants, illustrating the effects of logging, poaching and wetland drainage with photographs. "I fear the Bryansk Forest is turning into a factory for peat and timber production right before my eyes," he wrote. He called for the creation of a nature reserve to protect the forest and save the black stork.

Igor's articles won first prize in a Russian nature journalism contest, and the Bryansk Worker was awarded "best newspaper supporting environmental issues" for 1983. The newspaper received dozens of letters from its readers supporting Igor's proposal. They called on Communist Party leaders to stop the destruction of the Bryansk Forest and create a nature reserve.

When First Secretary Voystrochenko arrived at the cabin in July 1984, Igor had great hopes as he explained the threats to the forest and the endangered stork. Impressed by what he saw and heard, Voystrochenko asked the teacher to make a presentation the very next day at the Communist Party Headquarters in the regional capital of Bryansk. At the meeting, Igor--wearing a gray suit that seemed incongruous with his suntanned face and lithe frame--stood in front of an army of medal- laden generals and war heroes. Nearly losing his voice, he relied on his photos and his passion for the forest to make his case. To his amazement, the administration that day decreed the creation of a 3,450- acre sanctuary and requested federal agencies to establish a national nature reserve (known as zapovednik in Russian).