(Zgodovinski Razvoj Industrije v Okolici Ruš, 1961, Jožef Kavčič, priest and historian).
In the past, a small wood industry developed along the streams of Lobnica and Bistrica in the form of Venetian sawmills. This involved several activities, including felling and harvesting wood, processing logs for various purposes, and transportation. In the hilly part of Pohorje, almost every farmer had their own sawmill. The farms were organized in such a way that at least a part of the stream ran over each farm. In the valley, larger farmers had sawmills and often combined them with other crafts like crate production. The sawn wood and other wood products were mainly exported to countries like Egypt, Hungary, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Israel.
Owners of larger forest areas and sawmills could also build water or rice mills to transport wood to the valley. Compared to other modes of transport, the waterways had a very high transport capacity, but the construction costs were very high. The rice fields were large wooden gutters that carried water and wood floating in the water to the sawmills and into the valley. They were made from hewn or sawn wood and usually lasted seven years. At the beginning of the rice fields, there were dams that were closed during droughts, but when enough water accumulated, they were opened, and the water carried the wood into the valley.
Today, the Marolt sawmill near Lobnica is the only surviving water-powered Venetian sawmill in the Ruško Pohorje region.