Back to the future: Russian-American relations should be reanimated at the place they started

An interesting, and, given the current political context, non-trivial event was held in San Francisco (California, USA) in the end of October. It was a Conference dedicated to the problems of Russian-American relations in Asia-Pacific region. Conference venue was also chosen not accidentally. Fort Ross is almost the only historical monument preserved up to the present day, reminding of broad presence of our people in North America many years ago.

After the sale of the fortress, as well as other Russian America property, Fort Ross remained "left to itself" for a long time, until it was restored and given its original appearance under the auspices of the California authorities in 1970. Now the Fort complex and surrounding park areas are controlled by Fort Ross Conservancy non-profit organization, which is actively trying to develop it. The fund is actually a volunteer association: staff of employees is rather small and salaries, including those of managers, are symbolic. All the more surprising how carefully these people (Americans, having no relation to the Russian emigration) keep the memory of the most southern point of the "Russian-American Company" ownership, carrying out several dozens events on traditional Russian culture every year. It must be said that financial situation of the "Fort Ross" historical park is not good due to the lack of support by US authorities. Even though "memorandum of understanding" was signed between the "Renova" group and the State of California (the signing ceremony was attented by President Medvedev) in 2010, Fort Ross can not be maintained at the expense of tourists only and thus depends crucially on sponsors.