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The Honorable Lisa Murkowski |
The Honorable Jeff Merkley |
Dear Chairman Murkowski and Ranking Member Merkley:
On behalf of our respective organizations, we write to express our strong support for Section 124 in the House FY 2025 Interior Appropriations bill (H.R. 8998) that would stop the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Lava Ridge wind project in Idaho. We respectfully request inclusion of bill language in the final FY 2025 Interior Appropriations bill to stop the Lava Ridge project and protect the viewshed of Minidoka National Historic Site, which is sacred ground for Japanese Americans.
During World War II, the U.S. Government incarcerated Japanese Americans from Oregon, Washington, California and Alaska in Minidoka, along with Japanese Alaskan families, who have both Japanese and Alaska Native ancestry. The Government also separated families by imprisoning men in New Mexico and Montana, while their wives and children were incarcerated at Minidoka. Of all the camps, Minidoka had the highest number of Nisei veterans. Minidoka incarcerees also resisted unjust treatment.
We strongly oppose the BLM’s December 2024 decision to permit the Lava Ridge wind project which would violate racial, environmental and reparative justice. In addition to the State of Washington, the entire Idaho Congressional delegation, Governor Little, Lt. Governor Bedke, the Idaho Legislature, county commissioners from Idaho, Oregon and Washington State, Tribal Nations, ranchers, farmers, hunters and many others oppose the project.
We appreciate the Subcommittee’s support for legislation in the FY 2024 Interior Appropriations bill to require BLM to consider alternatives and engage with stakeholders. Unfortunately, the BLM circumvented the intent of Congress by issuing the Lava Ridge Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on June 7, 2024 and signing the Record of Decision on December 5, 2024. As noted in the BLM FEIS, its preferred alternative would have “disproportionately high and adverse impacts on the Japanese American community and Indian Tribes.”
We appreciate the Interior Subcommittee’s long-standing, bipartisan investments to preserve Minidoka and other Japanese American incarceration sites as places for learning, healing and remembrance.
Thank you for considering our views.
Sincerely,
Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee
Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
Densho
Fred T. Korematsu Institute
Friends of Minidoka
Inclusive Arts OT
Japanese American Citizens League
Japanese American Museum of Oregon
Japanese American National Museum
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii
Jerome Rohwer Committee
National Japanese American Memorial Foundation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
Preservation Idaho
Resisters.com
Star Lake Cattlemen’s Association
Stop Lava Ridge Inc.
Topaz Museum
Tule Lake Committee
Tunupa Grazing Association
Twin Falls County Historic Preservation Commission
Japanese American Citizens League Local Chapters:
Japanese American Citizens League, Alaska Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Idaho Falls Chapter, ID
Japanese American Citizens League, Philadelphia Chapter, PA
Japanese American Citizens League, Puyallup Valley Chapter, WA
Japanese American Citizens League, Florin-Sacramento Valley Chapter, CA
Japanese American Citizens League, Greater Los Angeles Chapter, CA
Japanese American Citizens League, New Mexico Chapter
Japanese American Citizens League, Twin Cities Chapter, MN
Olympia Chapter, JACL, WA
Pocatello-Blackfoot JACL, ID
San Francisco Chapter JACL, CA
Seattle Japanese American Citizens League, WA
SELANOCO-OC JACL Chapter, CA
Snake River Japanese American Citizens League, ID
Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League, CA
Spokane Chapter Japanese American Citizens League, WA
St. Louis Japanese American Citizens League, MO
Wasatch Front North JACL, UT
cc:
Senator Susan Collins, Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
Senator Susan Patty Murray, Vice Chair, Senate Appropriations Committee
Representative Tom Cole, Chair, House Appropriations Committee
Representative Rosa DeLauro, Ranking Member, House Appropriations Committee
Representative Mike Simpson, Chair, House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
Representative Chellie Pingree, Ranking Member, House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee
Senator Mike Crapo
Senator Jim Risch
Representative Russ Fulcher
Representative Grace Meng, Chair, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC)
Representative Mark Takano, First Vice Chair, CAPAC
Representative Jill Tokuda, Second Vice Chair, CAPAC
Governor Brad Little
Lt. Governor Scott Bedke
Attorney General Raul Labrador
Chairman Lee Juan Tyler, Fort Hall Business Council, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes
Chairman Brian Mason, Shoshone-Paiute Tribal Business Council, Shoshone-Paiute Tribes