Molchanov, Aleksandr

Born Aug. 19 (Sept. 1), 1902, in the village of Kuzoverskaia, in present-day Ust’ianskii Raion, Arkhangel’sk Oblast. Soviet silviculturist; corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (1968). Member of the CPSU since 1941.

After graduating from the Arkhangel’sk Institute of Forestry Technology in 1933, Molchanov worked in the Northern Experimental Forestry Section of Arkhangel’sk Oblast. In 1945 he began working at the Institute of Forestry of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR; he became head of the institute’s laboratory of hydrology and climatology in 1952. In 1959 he began working on the State Forest Committee of Gosplan (State Planning Commission) and at the Silvicultural Laboratory of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and in 1966 became director of the laboratory.

Molchanov’s principal works deal with natural reforestation, the study of the environment surrounding the forest, the hydro-logical role of the forest, and the determination of optimal forest tree density to prevent soil erosion, improve the water regime of soils, and increase the summer water level of rivers. He has been awarded two orders and various medals.