The State Duma is considering a draft bill introducing amendments to the Forest Code in terms of unhindered use of dead wood for personal purposes

The authors of the draft bill were more than 70 deputies and senators. At a meeting on January 23, 2018 in the State Duma Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Relations, the bill was supported by Ivan Valentik, the Deputy Minister - the Head of the Federal Forestry Agency.

The bill was developed on the basis of numerous appeals of citizens who could not take wood from the forest even for their own needs without complicated procedure for issuing permits.

According to the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Russian Federation, the Head of the Federal Forestry Agency Ivan Valentik, deputies from the State Duma Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Relations have obtained the support of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Presidential Administration and expect that the draft law will be adopted in the first reading.

In accordance with Article 11 of the Forest Code of the Russian Federation, citizens have the right to freely and free of charge to harvest wild fruits, berries, nuts, mushrooms, other edible forest resources, and non-timber forest resources for their own needs. Non-timber forest resources include stumps, birch bark, bark of trees and shrubs, brushwood, fodder, fir, fir, pine, moss, forest litter, reeds and other similar forest resources.

At the same time, the Head of the Federal Forestry Agency emphasized the importance of projected changes in forest legislation, noting their high social importance. In his speech, Ivan Valentik expressed his unconditional readiness to assist in finalizing the draft law in preparation for adoption in the second reading. The first reading of the document is planned for early February.