Officials in Russias Irkutsk region in southeastern Siberia have publicly denounced activists seeking to block a controversial bill that would ease logging restrictions along the shores of Lake Baikal, the Govorit NeMoskva news outletreported Monday.In an open letter, 34 regional officials, including six mayors, accused environmental activists of waging a cyberbullying campaign and inciting inter-social conflicts between the peoples of Baikal and the rest of Russia, according to excerpts from the letter published by Govorit NeMoskva.Introduced in Russias lower house of parliament this year, fresh amendments to the countrys law on the protection of Lake Baikal a UNESCO World Heritage site seek to permit logging on as many as 75 plots of shoreland with a combined area of 762 hectares.While the bills backers say it will allow for a long-overdue development of basic infrastructure in the many remote towns and villages on the lake, ecologists believe it would pave the way for mass commercial wood harvesting and the building of outsized tourism infrastructure.The open letter, which was sent to local media outlets, singled out activists Vitaliy Ryabtsev and Lyubov Alikina as the chief instigators of an alleged cyberbullying campaign against supporters of the bill who live on Baikals shores.The letters authors called on President Vladimir Putin, the FSB and the Prosecutor Generals Office to inspect activists online publications and social media comments for traces of hatred of Baikals residents and the countrys leadership.Last month, Alikina published an official letter from the Prosecutor Generals Office which stated that measures outlined in the new bill could indeed harm Baikals unique ecosystem while yielding no direct benefits to local residents.UNESCOs World Heritage Committeesignaled earlier this year that adaptation of the controversial bill could result in Lake Baikal being added to its World Heritage in Danger list.