Jeff Berliner
Alaska Dept. of Commerce & Economic Development
Division of Trade & Development
Juneau, Alaska

Alaska's relations with Kamchatka have covered a wide array of governmental, business, educational, humanitarian, cultural, ethnic, tourism, and other ties.

• Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles met with Kamchatka Oblast Gov. Vladimir Biryukov, April 13, 1997, in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, en route to Sakhalin on a Russian Far East trade mission. There was interest in enhancing relations between Alaska and Kamchatka.

• Alaska State House of Representatives Speaker Brian Porter met with Kamchatka Gov. Biryukov during a stopover in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksy, October 1998. Gov. Biryukov expressed concerns about the critical need to maintain air links between Kamchatka and Alaska.

• Kamchatka Vice Governor Leonid Lelchuk has visited Alaska three times: in 1992, to Juneau, for the 250th anniversary celebration of Bering's voyage to Alaska; in 1993, to Juneau and to Anchorage for a meeting of the Northern Forum; and in 1995, to Juneau, where he met with Alaska Lt. Gov. Fran Ulmer. Vice Gov. Lelchuk was instrumental in facilitating the first charter from Alaska to Kamchatka and follow-up exchanges between Alaska and Kamchatka.

• Leonid Lelchuk, formerly vice governor and now the Kamchatka governor's representative in Moscow, proposed in March 1999 that Kamchatka and Alaska pursue future cooperation and exchanges in energy, industry, construction, infrastructure, tourism, education, culture, northern issues and government.

• Alaska serves as the exclusive air link for all flights between Kamchatka and the West.

• The first flights to Kamchatka were chartered Aeroflot flights beginning in 1991 with a Kamchatka stopover en route to Vladivostok, followed by direct flights to Kamchatka.

• Alaska Airlines provided regularly scheduled service, offering two roundtrip flights per week to Kamchatka during the summer and one flight per week in the winter. Alaska Airlines suspended its Russian Far East service in October 1998, citing economic reasons.

• Reeve Aleutian Airways increased its once weekly service to Kamchatka to twice weekly roundtrip service in October 1998. Reeve had been flying weekly charter service from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, but has moved to two weekly scheduled flights for its combination passenger-cargo service. Reeve can add flights based on demand. The Alaska governor's annual Exporter of the Year honor in 1998 was awarded jointly to Reeve Aleutian Airways and Circumpolar Expeditions of Anchorage for their work in linking Alaska to the Russian Far East.

• Lynden International, a major freight company with offices in Anchorage, has delivered cargo into Kamchatka, primarily for mining operations. Although Lynden does not have regular freight deliveries to Kamchatka, it has an infrastructure established in the Russian Far East for regular flights to Sakhalin as well as shipments to other locations based on demand. Other air cargo and passenger carriers in Anchorage serve the Russian Far East.

• Panalpina, an international freight forwarding company, has offices in Anchorage and in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

• Aleut peoples of Kamchatka and Alaska have formed the Aleut International Association. Various Kamchatka-Alaska exchanges and relations between the Aleuts on either side of the border led to creation of a formal association in the fall of 1998, with a constitution, by-laws, board of directors and non-profit organization status in the state of Alaska. The association held its first formal meeting in Anchorage in September 1998.

• The Arctic Council --- a high-level forum of officials representing the eight arctic nations, the United States (Alaska), Russia, Canada, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland), Sweden, Norway and Finland --- accepted the Aleut International Association as a permanent participant group at the Council's September 1998 meeting, in which the rotating Arctic Council secretariat passed from Canada to the United States.

• The Aleut International Association will focus on Alaska-Kamchatka Aleut issues involving the economy, culture, environment, and other common concerns.

• Kamchatka Aleuts have taught Alaska Aleuts long lost traditional songs and dances.

• Alaska is an active participant in the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission, now the Gore-Primakov Commission, Business Development Committee Russian Far East -West Coast Ad Hoc Working Group (AHWG). Alaska took part in the group's May 1997 meeting in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, sending a delegation led by Deputy Commissioner of Commerce Jeff Bush. Alaska has had the U.S. chairmanship of the RFE-West Coast working group's Energy Sector since its inception. Alaskans have also served as U.S. co-chairs for the Finance, Training and Legislative Sectors. This trade promotion group has 12 sectors.

• Energy project proposals involving Kamchatka were considered and approved by the AHWG Energy Sector, co-chaired by energy industry executives from Alaska and Kamchatka, at the May 1997 meeting in Kamchatka and at the follow-up AHWG meeting in Portland, Oregon in October 1997. The Energy Sector co-chairs, Bill Stamps of Peak Oilfield Services Co. of Kenai, Alaska, and Vladimir Lakhtin of Kamchatsenergo Co. of Kamchatka, sherphered the energy project proposals through the working group. The projects involve gasification of the Kamchatka region, oil and gas prospects in the Koryaksky region of the upper Kamchatka Peninsula as well as promoting ongoing dialogue on investment and development issues and exploring other RFE energy projects.

• The University of Alaska American Russian Center (ARC) has had a significant presence in Kamchatka for the past four years. ARC's main campus is in Anchorage with RFE branches in Magadan, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Yakutsk, but ARC has performed considerable outreach activities in Kamchatka. Since August 1995, ARC has conducted 12 basic business training course for 441 participants. ARC has brought ten entrepreneurs from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Anchorage for business management training and arranged to bring nine more in April 1999. ARC has also trained Kamchatka accounting professors in managerial accounting and finance.

• The University of Alaska Anchorage has had good relations with the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Maritime Academy for more than seven years.

• Teacher exchanges at the secondary school level have sent Alaska teachers to Kamchatka and Kamchatka teachers to Alaska. Two Alaska teachers who went to Kamchatka in 1991 are still there. Russian language teachers from Kamchatka are now teaching in four different Alaska school districts.

• Student exchanges at the secondary school level have brought Kamchatka students to several Alaska high schools, and Alaska has sent students to Kamchatka. At the college level, Kamchatka students are among the RFE students studying at the campuses of the University of Alaska, which grants RFE students in-state tuition discounts.

• In addition to the formal training offered by the University of Alaska's American Russian Center in Kamchatka, training has been arranged for professionals on an individual basis by sister cities, organizations and private citizens.

• The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and the Alaska Volcano Institute have worked with the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Research Institute of Volcanology and Geochemistry on Kamchatka focusing on the Aleutian volcanic arc. In July 1998 Alaska Geophysical Institute Professor John Eichelberger co-chaired the first International Seismic and Volcanic Workshop on North Pacific Subduction Processes held in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Kamchatka scientists are expected to visit Alaska in the summer of 1999. The Alaska Volcano Observatory has been expanding its network westward and over the past five years scientists from Alaska and Russia have met to share information about Kamchatka's seismology and volcanic history. Scientists and students have conducted joint research and field work.

• The geology of the Aleutian Arc in the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Island chain is similar to the Komandorsky Islands and the Kamchatka Peninsula. There are similar volcanic and geothermal structures, and Alaska has a number of experts in geothermal energy.

• AT&T Alascom, based in Anchorage, has installed an earth station in Kamchatka and established a digital satellite link that provides direct air traffic control communications between the Alaska control center and Kamchatka. This was installed in 1995, upgraded in 1997, with maintenance in 1998. This project involved contract and licensing procedures, as well as work with the local telephone company, and bringing in the equipment, installing it and making it operational. Alascom is in a joint venture with the local telephone company on Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

• Alaska pioneered tourism to Kamchatka with charter flights and friendship visits, which have led to direct scheduled air links.

• Tourists from around the world visit Kamchatka in the summer via Alaska, which provides the only direct flights to Kamchatka from the United States.

• Alaska companies are in the forefront of agencies specializing in travel arrangements to Kamchatka. An industry familiarization tour in the summer of 1998 involved five travel agencies, four of them based in Alaska. Other Alaska agencies also arrange Kamchatka tours. Companies offer both individual and package tours from Anchorage to Kamchatka.

• One of the most unique Millenium events on the planet involves a trip from Alaska to Kamchatka and back to Alaska to celebrate the Millenium New Year twice. Thanks to the international dateline and the proximity of Alaska and Kamchatka, tourists will have an opportunity to celebrate New Year's eve and New Year's day 2000 first in Kamchatka and again in Alaska.

• A long-time Alaskan, Martha Madsen of Homer, helped arrange tourism training with grant funding for Kamchatka, and establish the Yelizovo Tour Service and now lives in Kamchatka working full-time on tourism development and further cultivating Alaska tourist agency connections.

• Kamchatka Region Director of Tourism Alexei Stukalov visited Alaska in 1993 to study Alaska's tourism infrastructure.

• Alaska companies have worked on key infrastructure development study projects for Kamchatka involving the airport and port serving Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. These projects involved economic and engineering planning for improvements, tourism, financing, future demand and other issues. The principals, who worked closely with regional and local government administrations, were Alan Christopherson of Peratrovich, Nottingham & Drage, and Patrick Burden of Northern Economics, both based in Anchorage. (These firms also conducted a comprehensive infrastructure study for Sakhalin.)

• Alaskans have also worked at the pre-feasibility stage in Kamchatka energy projects, focusing on natural gas and geothermal resources. This work has taken place on several levels, including public and private consultancies and for the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission Russian Far East - West Coast Ad Hoc Working Group. Those involved included Rupert "Bucky" Tart of Golder Associates Engineers in Anchorage, which employs a Russian geologist who specializes in permafrost; Alan Christopherson of Peratrovich, Nottingham & Drage of Anchorage; and Bill Stamps of Peak Oilfield Services of Kenai, Alaska.

• Kamchatka is considered an excellent prospect for hard metals mining and one of the foremost international experts on Kamchatka mineral resources is Alaskan Tom Bundtzen of Pacific Rim Geological Consulting in Fairbanks, Alaska, and formerly with the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. His work in Russian Far East mineral resources dates back many years and spans the Russian Far East, including Kamchatka. He has worked with the Soviet and now Russian Academy of Science, with scientists in the Russian public and private sector. His expertise in this area has made him the featured speaker on Russian Far East mining at international symposiums.

• Placer Dome, which has active mining operations in Alaska and exploration in the Russian Far East, has done early stage reconnaissance exploration in the northern Kamchatka Peninsula and maintains an office in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Alaska geologist Lance Miller of Juneau has been in charge of the exploration and work program for Placer Dome in the Russian Far East.

• Tesoro Alaska Petroleum Co. has its Russian Far East base of operations, Tesoro Vostok Co., in Alaska along with its RFE manager, Jim Meitner. Tesoro has provided diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The diesel and gasoline have come from Tesoro's Alaska refinery. Tesoro was the exclusive supplier of these petroleum products to Kamchatka until the August 1998 ruble devaluation and economic crisis, which made lower-priced Russian domestic products more profitable. Tesoro has also built two new gasoline stations in Kamchatka. (Tesoro has also been involved in the Vladivostok region and Sakhalin.)

• Pacific Associates Exports, based in Juneau, supplied food products to Kamchatka in 1993-1995.

• Pacific Exports of Juneau (reorganized from the above company) began exporting various products in Kamchatka in 1995, including machine oil, filters, toilets and heavy equipment.

• NC Machinery Co., an Anchorage company that traces it roots back 200 years to the Russian America Co., sells Caterpillar products and heavy equipment in the Russian Far East, particularly to the mining industry, including in Kamchatka to platinum mining companies. The largest sale in Kamchatka was in 1996, but there have been other sales, including recent ones. The company has offices in Magadan and Anchorage.

• Pacific Detroit Diesel - Allison serves the Russian Far East from its Anchorage office and has sold generators in Kamchatka the last two years.

• A pioneer in providing business advice and consultations for Kamchatka is JoAnn Grady, the principal in Grady & Associates of Juneau, Alaska. She has specialized in business and social service strategies for Kamchatka, working with regional and local governments, private industry and non-governmental organizations since 1989. She has provided services, advice and consultation in Kamchatka in business, public administration, economic issues, transportation, and social issues as well as initiating exchanges, seminars, travel and sister city relations.

• Alaskans established a women's center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, thanks to a San Francisco philanthropist and other donations. The Lovett Women's Center in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the first of its kind in the region, has since been replicated in Magadan and is seen as a model for a center in Yakutsk and perhaps other cities. The Kamchatka women's center was established as a women's health center in 1991, but has since expanded to a general service agency dealing with social, economic, health and other issues. Alaskans involved in this effort have been returning once or twice annually. The establishment of the center has involved extensive training by Alaskans. Juneau, Alaska residents instrumental in this are JoAnn Grady of Grady & Associates and Marie Helm, among others.

• Kamchatka is a member of the Northern Forum, which focuses on issues of concern for its northern latitude regional members. The secretariat is in Anchorage.

• Kamchatka Oblast Director of Foreign Economic Relations Alexander Potievsky attended the Northern Forum Board of Directors meeting in Anchorage in September 1998. Kamchatka Vice Governor Leonid Lelchuk attended the Northern Forum General Assembly meeting in Anchorage in 1993.

• Fairbanks: A full container of clothes donated by the public in a collection drive organized by Youth With A Mission was shipped to Kamchatka for free distribution. The fall 1998 collection drive gathered new and used winter wear, sweaters, boots, hats, warm clothes and some bedding.

• Homer: $25,000 in cash was donated by the public in 1998 to meet the needs of five orphanages in Kamchatka, two in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and one each in Yelizovo, Esso and Milkovo. Homer provided the aid to Rotary Clubs in Kamchatka to distribute.

• Unalaska/Dutch Harbor: Two major efforts to aid Kamchatka were undertaken in the winter of 1998-99: one by the city itself and the other a private voluntary effort. The city of Unalaska on Dec. 8, 1998 appropriated $25,000 of city funds to pay transportation costs for delivering donations to Komandorsky Island villagers off the east coast of Kamchatka. Two long-time Unalaska residents spearheaded the aid effort to provide clothing, food and blankets to the residents of Nikolskoye on Bering Island.

Homer, Alaska, on the southern Kenai Peninsula, is sister city to Yelizovo, the location of the Kamchatka international airport, a short distance from the Kamchatka capital, Petropavlovsk- Kamchatsky.

• Sister city relations established 1995.

• Delegations and exchanges: Mayors and public officials, lawyers, tourism, Rotary Clubs, business and numerous citizen delegations. The next exchanges are planned for Kamchatka lawyers to come to Alaska in the fall of 1999 and for Homer to send a sister city delegation in 2000.

• Humanitarian aid to orphanages and emergency medical assistance has been provided.

Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, Alaska, at the eastern end of Alaska's Aleutian Island chain, America's No. 1 fishing port, is sister city to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, the capital of Kamchatka.

• Sister city relations established 1990.

• Regular exchange visits have occurred since the establishment of sister city relations, involving citizens, businesses, Aleuts, officials, religious groups, school classes and exchange students.

• Dutch Harbor has long been a stopping off point for the Russian North Pacific fleet for fuel, supplies, R&R and crew changes. Numerous companies have done business with the Russian fleet and Russian companies.

• Alaska has been linked to Kamchatka since early Russian exploration in the 1740s.

• In 1799 Czar Paul I signed the charter establishing the Russian America Company as the exclusive agency of the czar in Russia's Alaska territory. Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky was one of the major supply points for the Russian America Co.

• The Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension is one of the oldest relics from Russia's colonial history in Alaska. It was built more than a century ago using the remnants of even earlier Russian structures and is a key lasting symbol of the historical connections between Alaska and Russia. This "Pearl of the Aleutians" contains parts of the original church built in 1825 by Innocent Veniamov, who arrived in Unalaska from Russia. He became the bishop of Kamchatka, the Kuril and Aleutian Islands and was known as the "Enlightener of the Aleutians and Apostle to America." He has since been canonized as Saint Innocent. Unalaska's Holy Ascension Cathedral became a National Historic Landmark in 1970. The church remains active and services are conducted in English, Aleut and Slavonic.

• Russian missionaries and traders who began arriving in the mid-1700s have left their mark on Unalaska and throughout the Aleutians, and many residents even today have Russian names from colonial intermarriages.

Alaska's Aleutian Island chain reaches almost to Kamchatka and its Komandorsky (Commander) Islands. Kamchatka was long a closed region, closed even to Russians, and Alaska was instrumental in opening Kamchatka and forging relations.

• Anchorage is 2,000 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Moscow is 4,213 miles from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

• Alaska's Aleutian Island chain ends in the Near Islands, which are just across the International Dateline and the U.S.-Russian maritime border from Kamchatka and its Komandorsky Islands.

• There are two flights per week from Anchorage to Kamchatka, taking 4 1/2 hours. There are one or two flights per week between Moscow and Kamchatka, taking 8 hours or longer.

• Population of Anchorage and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky are about the same, 260,000.

• Kamchatka and Alaska are known for their wilderness, wildlife and adventure tourism.

• Alaska and Kamchatka have similar geology and energy and mineral resources. Kamchatka's resources are largely undeveloped, though Kamchatka has done some development of its geothermal resources and Alaska has not.

• Alaska and Kamchatka have similar climates and terrain. Both have active volcanoes.

Alaska - Russian Far East Connections

• Russian explorers, traders, missionaries arrive in Alaska, mid-1700s.

• United States purchases Alaska from Russia, 1867.

• Alaska celebrates two official state holidays: Seward's Day, the last Monday in March, commemorating the treaty for the U.S. purchase of Alaska from Russia, and Alaska Day, Oct. 18, marking the anniversary of the formal transfer of Alaska from Russia to the United States in 1867.

• Alaska's Russian Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas according to the old Russian calendar, the only Eastern Orthodox diocese in the U.S. to do so.

• June 13, 1988: Alaska to Chukotka "Friendship Flight" opening Ice Curtain border.

• Following the thawing of the Ice Curtain border, numerous delegations --- official government-led groups, trade missions, citizen delegations, native groups, performing artists, and educational and scientific groups --- from both sides of the Bering Strait began traveling back and forth.

• Anchorage established as the gateway for flights to the Russian Far East.

• Visa-free travel for Bering Strait natives.

• University of Alaska Anchorage establishes American Russian Center campuses in Khabarovsk, Magadan, Yakutsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.

• Alaska businesses conduct trade and tourism in the Russian Far East.

• Alaska Sakhalin Working Group formed to promote business between the regions.

• USAID grants funds to Alaska for Sakhalin projects.

• Alaskans provide humanitarian aid to the Sakha Republic, Chukotka, Magadan and Kamchatka.

Alaska Dept. of Community & Economic Development
Division of Trade & Development

• Greg Wolf, Director, 3601 C Street, Suite 700, Anchorage, AK 99503-5934. Telephone 907-269-8115, fax 907-269-2185, Greg_Wolf@dced.state.ak.us

• Jeff Berliner, Russian Trade Specialist, P.O. Box 110804, Juneau, AK 99811-0804. Telephone 907-465-3962, fax 907-465-3767, Jeff_Berliner@dced.state.ak.us

• Chuck Becker, Chairman, 3601 C Street, Suite 700, Anchorage, AK 99503.

907-271-6237, fax 907-271-6242, Chuck.Becker@mail.doc.gov

• Charlene Derry, International Liaison Officer, FAA International Office, Anchorage, 907-271-5534, fax 907-271-3261, charlene.derry@faa.gov

• Reeve Aleutian Airways, Anchorage, 907-243-1112, fax 907-249-2303

• Circumpolar Expeditions, Anchorage, 907-272-9299, fax 907-278-6092, wallack@alaska.net

• Alaska Pathways, Anchorage, 907-653-1958, fax 907-653-1959, akpath@alaska.net

• Yelizovo Tour Service, Martha Madsen, Yelizovo, Kamchatka, (7-41531) 648-07, tourserve@elrus.kamchatka.su

• Lynden International, Rick Pollock, Vice President, Alaska & Russian Far East Region, Anchorage, 907-243-6150, fax 907-243-8159, rickp@laf.lynden.com

• Panalpina, Anchorage, 907-245-8008, fax 907-245-8018

• University of Alaska Anchorage, American Russian Center, Russ Howell Director, 907-786-4338, fax 907-786-4319, ANRBH@uaa.alaska.edu

• John Eichelberger, Group Leader for Volcanology, Professor, University of Alaska Geophysical Institute, Fairbanks, Alaska, 907-474-5530, fax 907-474-7290, eich@gi.alaska.edu

• Jim Beget, Professor of Geology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, (formerly worked for Chevron Geothermal). 907-474-5301, fax 907-474-5163, ffjeb1@uaf.edu

• Roman Motyka, leading geothermal expert in Alaska; extensive studies of the Aleutian Arc for the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources, Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys. Currently, a private consultant and university professor in Juneau, 907-586-1994, jhrjm@uas.alaska.edu

• Other scientists in Alaska also have experience working in geothermal energy in Alaska.

• Bill Stamps, Peak Oilfield Service Co., Kenai, Alaska, 907-776-4030, fax 907-776-3665, stampsb@alaska.net

U.S. Chairman, Energy Sector, West Coast - Russian Far East Ad Hoc Working Group, Gore-Primakov Commission Business Development Committee

• Jim Meitner, Russian Far East Operations Manager, Tesoro Alaska Petroleum Co., Kenai, Alaska, 907-776-3571, fax 907-776-8031, jmeitner@tesoropetroleum.com

• Tom Bundtzen, Pacific Rim Geological Consulting, Fairbanks, Alaska, 907-458-8951, fax 907-458-8511. (Formerly with the Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys. Extensive knowledge of RFE mineral resources; many RFE contacts.)

• Lance Miller, Placer Dome, Juneau, Alaska, 907-463-5186, lancemiller@compuserve.com

• Bob Alvarado, AT&T Alascom, major Alaska telecommunications company has sent teams to the Russian Far East, including Kamchatka, to install satellite communications equipment. Anchorage, 907-264-7325, 800-478-9000 ext. 7325, fax 907-264-7027, balvorado@alascom.att.com

• Anatoly Khmelev, Pacific Exports, Juneau, Alaska, 6310 Glacier Highway, Suite 1, Juneau, AK 99801, 907-780-4427, pacificx@gci.net

• Patrick Doran, Pacific Detroit Diesel - Allison, Anchorage, Alaska, 907-522-3434, fax 907-522-1198, pdoran@pacificdda.com

• Sasha Clark, NC Machinery, Anchorage, Alaska, 907-561-1766, fax 786-7580.

NC Machinery traces its roots back 200 years to the founding of the Russian America Co. by Czar Paul I.

• Patrick Burden, Principal Economist, Northern Economics, Anchorage, 907-274-5600, fax 907-274-5601, PatrickB@norecon.com

• Alan Christopherson, Senior Vice President, Peratrovich, Nottingham & Drage, Anchorage, 907-561-1011, 907-563-4220, pnd@alaska.net

• Rupert "Bucky" Tart, Golder Associates Engineers, Anchorage, 907-344-6001, fax 907-344-6011

• JoAnn Grady, Grady & Associates, Juneau, Alaska, 907-586-4043, grady@alaska.net

Pioneered the opening of Kamchatka to Alaska. Contacts in business, political and social service areas.

• Steve Yoshida, Attorney, Homer, Alaska, 907-235-5255, fax 907-235-8126, steveyoshida@compuserve.com

President of the Yelizovo-Homer Sister City Association. Kamchatka activities include lawyer exchanges, humanitarian aid, Rotary Club exchanges, tourism, commercial law, market reforms, economic development, establishing legal team for businesses in debt issues, logistics, etc.

• Curtis Hight, professional photographer, has made more than a dozen photo trips to Kamchatka. Photographs of Kamchatka have appeared in national publications. Anchorage, 907-248-9716, curtis@floraandfauna.com

• Janna Lelchuk, Russian teacher at Juneau-Douglas High School and at the University of Alaska Southeast campus in Juneau. 907-463-1900, lelchuk@jsd.k12.ak.us

• Aleutian Pribilof Association, Flore Lekanof, Anchorage, 276-2700

• Homer: Steve Yoshida, Attorney, President of the Homer-Yelizovo Sister City Association, 907-235-5255, fax 907-235-8126, steveyoshida@compuserve.com

• Unalaska: Carolyn Reed, Bering Sea Art Exchange, Aleutian Arts Council, 907-581-2316; City of Unalaska, Dept. of Administration, Nica Caoile, 907-581-7733, fax 907-581-3664, admin@ansi.net