BLM favors huge wind farm near Minidoka National Historic Site

Editor's note: This is updated with feedback from the Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee.

The Biden administration is poised to authorize the construction of a massive wind farm in central Idaho, not far from the Minidoka National Historic Site, a unit of the national park system that has housed more than 13,000 Japanese Americans during World War II, a decision that immediately drew criticism.

Under notification of the preferred decision of the Bureau of Land Management [attached below] Published Thursday, the so-called Lava Ridge Wind Project could involve nearly 250 wind turbines rising 660 feet above the Idaho desert, not far from Minidoka, according to the National Parks Conservation Association. The preferred alternative in the BLM's final environmental impact statement on the project would be finalized by early July, barring any changes from the administration.

“This decision flies in the face of this administration’s commitment to protecting cultural landscapes,” said Kristen Brengel, NPCA vice president of government affairs.

A group of Japanese Americans also criticized the decision.

“It is unconscionable to build an incredibly visible symbol of corporate America's greed right in front of us – as we try to commune with our ancestors, as we try to bring our last survivors there to make peace with what they have has arrived, and as we “We're trying to engage our youth and others in this erased American history in a deep and personal way,” said Erin Shigaki, a descendant of a Minidoka internee and leader of the Planning Committee of the Minidoka Pilgrimage, a volunteer organization of survivors and survivors based in Seattle. descendants of Japanese American incarceration.

In early July, the committee will lead hundreds of pilgrims to Twin Falls, Idaho, and the National Historic Site for its annual pilgrimage for three days of education, reflection, healing and reunion. In a statement, the committee said the Biden administration should adopt the BLM's “no action” alternative, which would block the wind farm.

The wind farm represents a balancing act for the Biden administration, which wants to boost the nation's capacity to produce clean energy but has also denounced the shameful incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II .

“During one of the most shameful periods in American history, Japanese Americans were targeted and imprisoned simply because of their heritage. Families were forced to abandon their homes, their communities and their businesses to live for years in inhumane concentration camps across the United States.” Biden declared February 19, 2021, Japanese American Internment Memorial Day. As the president signed legislation in early 2023 providing funding to help preserve Minidoka and other sites where tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were detained, the administration has pushed hard to produce energy from wind farms.

When it opened on August 10, 1942, the incarceration camp spanned 33,000 acres, although only 950 acres were used for administrative and residential purposes, while an additional 800 acres were reserved for agriculture. The surrounding landscape was an affront to many Japanese Americans who had been taken from lush Washington and Oregon and sent by train to Idaho.

“The first thing that impressed me was the bareness of the land,” Shozo Kaneko said in a 1943 interview. “There was not a tree in sight, not even a blade of green grass. Coming from the North West where there were many green fields and forests, the sight amazed most of us who had never seen anything like it before.”

At the height of World War II, the incarceration camp housed hundreds of buildings: family barracks, a hospital, tool shops, toilets, a gas station, a pumping station, a laundry , dormitories for men and women. The site was crossed by paths leading to vegetable gardens, a poultry farm and a pigsty.

Today, much of the historical fabric that represented a loathsome chapter in American history has been erased by time. South of the barracks is a huge root cellar that the inmates built to hold the onions, carrots, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, radishes, cucumbers and other produce they grew on the barracks. plots to the east of dozens of barracks for food. Unfortunately, it is in a state of slow collapse.

Last year, the National Trust for Historic Preservation included Minidoka on its list of the 11 most endangered historic places in the country.

Minidoka's scenic views and distant mountains continue to convey the isolation and estrangement that Japanese Americans experienced there. However, a wind farm has been proposed adjacent to Minidoka National Historic Site, potentially including the construction of wind turbines within the Minidoka Camp historic footprint. If built as currently planned, the project could irrevocably change Minidoka's landscape, potentially creating a visual wall of hundreds of wind towers, each taller than Seattle's Space Needle, with blades exceeding the span of a Boeing 747. – National Trust for Historic Preservation.

“At the request of the Bureau of Land Management, we provided detailed historical research to the Biden administration to enable it to better protect lands where Japanese American citizens were unjustly incarcerated and exploited to clear land and build infrastructures. » Robyn Achilles, executive director of Friends of Minidoka, said Thursday in reaction to the BLM plan. “Most of this research was ignored in this decision. They are choosing to ignore National Park Service policies that protect a historic landscape in favor of a very damaging and obstructive project. The Biden administration needs to do a better job and truly commit to protecting Minidoka and our heritage, or we will be dealing with Lava Ridge and other projects forever. »

The National Park Service has expressed concerns about the wind farm, stating: “[T]The Lava Ridge Project would fundamentally change the psychological and physical feelings of remoteness and isolation one experiences when visiting Minidoka NHS, as the lands to the north would be transformed into a large-scale renewable energy site marked by hundreds of wind turbines, transmission towers and associated accessories. Infrastructure. Approaching the site and traveling through its grounds, visitors would no longer experience the sensation of a rural, underutilized landscape reminiscent of what Minidoka was like during World War II. Additionally, Minidoka's night sky is an integral part of its cultural and historical fabric. The NPS is concerned that the night sky will be affected by light sources emanating from the project, thereby altering visitors' experience and ability to see the nightscapes experienced by those who lived in the camp during World War II.

In its statement Thursday, the BLM said it had adjusted “the settlement corridor and infrastructure to avoid or minimize impacts.” [to Minidoka] while balancing the development of wind resources. »

“Preserving the views of Minidoka is essential to the experience of survivors, descendants and visitors,” Brengel said. “Minidoka National Historic Site is a place of reflection and healing and has been managed that way for over 20 years. This plan goes against National Park Service laws and policies. Even though they have cared for many cultural landscapes, this decision is a huge disappointment.”