JACL Disappointed by Proposal to Desecrate Minidoka National Historic Site

June 6, 2024

For Immediate Release

Seia Watanabe, VP Public Affairs, swatanabe@jacl.org

Matthew Weisbly, Education & Communications Coordinator, mweisbly@jacl.org

The Bureau of Land Management released its Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS) earlier today regarding the Lava Ridge Wind Project. The proposed project would consist of 241 wind turbines, 660 feet tall, within viewing distance of the Minidoka National Historic Site. The addition of these wind turbines to the viewshed of the Minidoka Site would permanently alter the sense of solemnity appropriate to the recognition and remembrance of the 13,000 people forcibly removed from their homes and incarcerated there only because of their Japanese ancestry.

For over two years, JACL has joined in supporting the voices of survivors and their families to call on the Bureau of Land Management to hear our concerns about the impact this project will have on the site and its ability to fully and effectively convey our history. While the project has been reduced from its original siting, which would have egregiously placed wind turbines at the front door to Minidoka, the just announced proposal would still cause great harm to the desolate landscape that is integral to telling the story of Japanese American incarceration during WWII.

JACL is deeply disappointed by this blatant disregard for those who suffered during their incarceration at Minidoka and the lasting trauma to the Japanese American community that persists and is perpetuated by actions such as this.

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The Japanese American Citizens League is a national organization whose ongoing mission is to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry. The leaders and members of the JACL also work to promote cultural, educational, and social values and preserve the heritage and legacy of the Japanese American community.