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Most Finnish rivers were channelised during the 19th and 20th century to facilitate timber floating. By the late 1970s, extensive programmes were initiated to restore these degraded streams (Muotka and Syrjänen, 2007).

In Sweden, rivers of all sizes have been channelized to facilitate timber floating (Törnlund & Östlund 2006). Figure 8.4 shows the streams used for timber floating in 1930. Timber floating was gradually abandoned after the 1950s as the road network was developed (Törnlund & Östlund 2002).

Finnish river affected by timber floating

Rivers in Sweden used for timberfloating in 1930.

Source:  Naturvårdsverket

During the first half of the 20^th century forest industry grew strongly in Finland and other countries in the boreal zone. One prominent feature of this development was the increasing exploitation of forest resources in remote areas. Therefore, the majority of running waters was dredged to facilitate water transport of timber, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the country. In the 1950s and 1960s, this network of floatways was further expanded, and almost all streams wide enough for log floating (often no more than 4–5 m) were dredged, mainly using excavators (Jutila, 1992; Yrjn, 1998). At its maximum, the total length of dredged channels in Finland amounted to approximately 40 000 km, of which 13 000 km were in use by the 1950s (Lammassaari, 1990). In the 1970s, water transport of timber was eventually replaced by road transportation. This marked a turning point in stream management, with a strong and continuously growing interest in the restoration of dredged stream channels. A similar sequence of phases from intense dredging to restoration can be identified in northern Sweden, north-western Russia and forested parts of the northern U.S.A. and Canada (Sedell, Leone & Duval, 1991; Törnlund & Östlund, 2002).

The development of the export-oriented forest industry played an essential role in the industrialisation of Sweden at the end of the nineteenth century. A very important factor was the available watercourses: these could be used to transport timber from inland forests to the saw mills on the coast.