What is "amchitka"

Amchitka (; ) is a volcanic, tectonically unstable island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska. It is part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. The island is about long, and from wide. The area has a maritime climate, with many storms, and mostly overcast skies.

Amchitka was populated for more than 2,500 years by the Aleut people, but has had no permanent population since 1832. The island has been part of the United States since the Alaska Purchase of 1867. During World War II, it was used as an airfield by US forces in the Aleutian Islands Campaign.

Amchitka was selected by the United States Atomic Energy Commission to be the site for underground detonations of nuclear weapons. Three such tests were carried out: Long Shot, an blast in 1965; Milrow, a blast in 1969; and Cannikin in 1971 – at , the largest underground test ever conducted by the United States. The tests were highly controversial, with environmental groups fearing that the Cannikin explosion, in particular, would cause severe earthquakes and tsunamis. Amchitka is no longer used for nuclear testing. It is still monitored for the leakage of radioactive materials.

Amchitka is a 2009 two-CD release of a recording of Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Phil Ochs performing an October 16, 1970, benefit concert at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver. The event funded Greenpeace's protests of 1971 nuclear weapons tests by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission at Amchitka, Alaska.

Irving Stowe, one of Greenpeace's founding members, organized the benefit concert, with the assistance of Joan Baez. She could not appear, but she connected Stowe with Mitchell and Mitchell requested her boyfriend of the time, Taylor, join the concert. The Stowe family held onto tapes of the concert, but were not able to obtain the necessary clearances until John Timmins, brother of Cowboy Junkies members, became involved with Greenpeace. Timmins was instrumental in contacting Mitchell and Taylor's representatives and working out the necessary permissions. The tapes had to be surgically restored by Peter J. Moore, the producer of several Cowboy Junkies albums.