Payment in the field of forest use: a look into the past

Given the economic significance of forest use payments, the author proves the need for studying their development in Russian domestic forest economy. Looking back at the past, the author identifies the key milestones of shaping forest use payments, starting from the first protection documents of the 14th century, which banned the passage into private forests, and ending with a variety of methods of assessing the economic value of forest land, which emerged in the late 19th century. Speaking about the forest rent approach to the assessment of forests and forest lands as one of the constituent elements of forest economics the author explores the specifics of using this method which were discussed as its weaknesses in the 19th century. The article concludes with the idea that studying the previous experience provides us an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past to be able to apply a variety of forest use payment methods more efficiently.