Minidoka Internment National Monument
Idaho
In 2008 the Jerome County, Idaho Board of Supervisors permitted a 13,000 head dairy feedlot near the Minidoka Internment National Monument, a National Park Service-administered historic site where 13,000 Japanese Americans were interned during World War II. The County approved the project despite considerable protest from the Park Service, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Friends of Minidoka, Preservation Idaho and others. In 2007 the National Trust included Minidoka in its list of America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places.
Guard house and waiting room stone remains.
Credit: Elaine Stiles, NTHP
The facility would have devastating consequences on the former internment camp, located just a mile away. The air, water and soil borne contaminates caused by 13,000 confined dairy cows would be a considerable detriment to the function of Minidoka as a public park and endanger its historic assets. The air quality impacts will seriously interfere with the visitation experience of thousands of Americans.
The National Trust is co-plaintiff with a broad coalition of organizations and individuals challenging the permit approval in Idaho district court.
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