What You Can Do
Make a donation to the Friends of Minidoka to support the pending lawsuit against the proposed CAFO.
11 Most Endangered
Minidoka National Historic Site
Year Listed: 2007
Location: Jerome , Idaho
Current Status: Endangered
Threat: Development, Poor Public Policy
Latest News
April 2009: In addition to threats from a proposed factory farm, the Minidoka National Historic Site is also threatened by a plan to construct a portion of a 500‑mile, 500 kilovolt power line across or immediately adjacent to the National Park site. Learn more.
Honor Guard at the Minidoka Internment Camp annual pilgrimage, Hunt, Idaho.
Credit: Alma Hasse
Significance
On February 19, 1942 President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which legally permitted the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. From 1942 to 1945 the War Relocation Authority removed over 120,000 US residents of Japanese descent to ten internment camps throughout the Western United States. More than two-thirds of internees at the ten Relocation Centers were American citizens by birth. The Minidoka Relocation Center in south central Idaho was one of the largest camps, home to nearly 10,000 detainees throughout the war. The camp was over 33,000 acres and contained more than 600 buildings including administration and warehouse buildings, 44 residential blocks, schools, fire stations, hospital, post office and an assortment of shops and stores, and a cemetery.
Designated a National Monument in 2001 and a National Historic Site (NHS) in 2008, Minidoka stands as a stark reminder of a darker side of our country's history and is an important site in the history of American civil and human rights. Former internees and their descendants still return to Minidoka each year on an annual pilgrimage. Now a unit of the National Park System, the Minidoka National Historic Site is in the process of developing interpretive and visitor services at the site.
Updates
March 2009: The recently passed federal Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009 appropriated $1 million for preservation of Japanese American Confinement Sites authorized in 2006 (PL 109-441). Administered by the National Park Service, this funding will support interpretation, protection, and restoration of historic confinement sites like the Minidoka National Historic Site.
February 19, 2009: February 19 marked the 67th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 ordering the internment of persons of Japanese ancestry in the Pacific zone and the 30th annual Day of Remembrance for Japanese internment. Visit Friends of Minidoka for more information on how you can help support this endangered National Historic Site that has played an integral part of our American heritage. For more, check out the PreservationNation blog.
April 2008: Congress passes legislation that expanded the boundaries of the NHS and added an important related site on Bainbridge Island, Washington, bringing more resources under protection.
In fall 2008, the Jerome County Board of Commissioners approved a permit that would allow for the construction of a Confined Animal Feeding Operation, or CAFO, approximately 1.25 miles upwind of the Minidoka National Historic Site. The proposed CAFO would contain more than 13,000 head of cattle, and would produce foul odors, increase dust and other harmful pollutants, and create elevated noise and truck traffic in the vicinity of Minidoka, greatly impacting the visitor experience. Although the Board of Commissioners initially denied the permit application, a subsequent lawsuit by the applicant and decision against the Commissioners put the permit up for reconsideration. In their second round of deliberations, the Board refused to consider comments from the National Park Service and other organizations regarding the serious health and safety hazards that would be caused by locating a CAFO so close to an NHS. Idaho state law pertaining to CAFOs limits comments on permit applications to residents within one mile of the proposed site.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation has joined the Friends of Minidoka, the Japanese American Citizens League, Idaho Concerned Area Residents for the Environment, Preservation Idaho, and two local farming families in a lawsuit challenging the County's decision to approve the CAFO because of its potentially devastating consequences on the Minidoka National Historic Site. The lawsuit contends the County's decision was inconsistent with existing law and the constitutionality of the County's ordinance limiting who can comment on the health and safety impacts of proposed CAFOs.
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