April 18, 2021
Dear Congressman Neguse and Congressman Buck,
On behalf of the 1,900 members of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks (Coalition), a non-profit organization composed of retired, former, or current employees of the National Park Service (NPS), I am writing to express our support for the legislation to establish the Amache National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park System (H.R. 2497).
Coalition members collectively represent over 40,000 years of experience managing and protecting our country’s most precious and important natural and cultural resources. Coalition members include a full array of retired park leaders and professionals, including those with experience designating and managing parks and programs associated with the forced evacuation and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
It is our belief that the National Park Service should tell all of our significant stories, not just those stories that paint our country in a favorable way. Several sites in the National Park System help to tell the story of racial prejudice, the violation of civil liberties, and the failure of our democratic institutions during a momentous time in our past. And the Amache National Historic Site should be part of the park service’s ongoing commitment to tell the tragic story of the unjust incarceration of over 110,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Building on this work is especially important today as our nation seeks to better understand racial prejudice and to advance racial healing.
We believe that Amache is an “exemplary site of national significance,” and represents a cultural resource that is not already adequately represented in the National Park System. While NPS manages units that tell portions of the incarceration story, the Amache site has unique features and interpretive themes that are not represented by the existing NPS sites. A full list of these features can be found in the comments we submitted to the NPS regarding our support for the Amache Special Resource Study.
We also believe that the Amache site can feasibly be managed at a reasonable cost. The nearby town of Granada, Colorado, owns the site, which consists of less than one square mile. NPS has land management capacity in southeast Colorado through its High Plains Group that currently manages the Sand Creek and Bent’s Old Fort sites, which are located within 50 miles of the Amache site.
Finally, we believe that NPS management is superior to other management approaches. Following the designation of Manzanar in 1992, NPS has developed significant experience interpreting this important and complex chapter in our history. No other federal, state, or local agency has experience managing Japanese American camp sites. The Amache Preservation Society, the Amache Historical Society, the University of Denver, and other non-profit partners have done excellent work to preserve, manage, interpret, and conduct research at the site. While these organizations can partner with NPS, they currently do not have the ability to serve as the long-term site manager.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of America’s founding and the 150th anniversary of Colorado’s statehood in 2026, we feel strongly that this is the time to include the Amache National Historic Site as a unit of the National Park System, and to continue to provide the American public with opportunities to better understand and appreciate one of the most difficult chapters in our nation’s diverse history.
Sincerely,
Phil Francis
Chair, Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
cc:
Senator Bennet
Senator Hickenlooper