Documents from the archives of the Middle and Lower Volga region as sources for studying the history of nature protection in the USSR

Modern environmental problems have deep historical roots, their origins are connected with the political, economic, and cultural activities of the state and society based on an utilitarian approach to nature as a whole and its definite components. A comprehensive study of the environmental history of Russia, including at the regional level, is one of the urgent tasks of modern science; its solution will allow to borrow useful historical experience in conditions of aggravation of relations between society and nature. The article deals with the funds of the regional archives of the Middle and Lower Volga region which contain the documents covering various aspects of the history of nature protection in the USSR. The author analyzes the corpus of archival sources and reveals their informational value for the study of national ecological history.