Abstract
The article considers the policy of the Main Forestry Committee of the Supreme Economic Council on attracting private capital for firewood harvesting to combat the fuel crisis in 1919-1921, which has not been studied in the scientific literature. The research is based mainly on archival materials introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, and media publications of this period. The author used the materials of two central (GARF and RGAE) and four regional (Penza, Samara, Saratov, Ulyanovsk regions) state archives. The struggle of regional leaders against the ill-conceived policy of the center for the introduction of private capital for logging is shown. The conclusion is made about the fallacy of the widespread use of private entrepreneurs without taking into account local conditions for logging in the provinces of European Russia in an extreme situation of the economic crisis.