Background: The purpose of this study is to identify common and specific trends in the implementation of models of Soviet and post-Soviet modernization of the timber industry in Russia. Methods: The methodology of the research is based on the use of theoretical approaches of historical and economic sciences. Such a wide range of methodological approaches used in the work is related to the complexity of the study, which included analysis of the interaction of the state, the timber industry complex and the region at the macro-, meso- and microlevels of social and economic interaction. Findings: The dynamics of the development of the domestic timber industry complex during the period under review was characterized by a hasty growth, then a stage of maturity and, subsequently, a stage of decline. Moreover, this dynamics was marked both in production and economic indicators, as well as in capital investment indicators that affected the industrial and social infrastructure of the timber industry, as well as on quantitative and qualitative indicators of the development of mechanization in the timber industry and the achievement of scientific and technological progress. The final transition of the domestic timber industry complex from a group of stable industries of the old technological order to the problem group has become an obvious proof of the counter-modernization model of development. However, we need a search for new transformational solutions. At the present stage, Russia needs an urgent transition to the process of building a cluster policy in the timber industry. Such a policy should be carried out both at the regional and national levels, as well as in the context of international cooperation. Application: The findings of the study will be helpful for specialists who deal with the issues of economic or industrial history.