Feds approve reduction of Idaho wind farm near historic Japanese American incarceration site

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — The federal government approved a scaled-down wind farm in Idaho on Friday despite local opposition, including from groups concerned about its proximity to a historic site where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II.

The Bureau of Land Management has approved a final plan for the Lava Ridge Wind Project northeast of Twin Falls that decreases the number of wind turbines from 400 to 241 and imposes a maximum height of 660 feet (201 meters). The agency said the area “disturbed” by the project has been cut in half from the original proposal, with 992 acres (401 hectares) disturbed out of an area of ​​38,535 acres (15,594 hectares).

The agency said the project could power up to 500,000 homes and that its approval “reflects a careful balance between clean energy development and protection of the natural, cultural and socio-economic resources of this important landscape.” historical”.

Some groups have expressed concern about the potential impacts of the high desert site on the Minidoka National Historic Sitewhere thousands of Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II.

The Friends of Minidoka, a group that works to preserve the site and share its history, said they were reviewing the decision but remained disappointed by a project they see as undermining the “sanctity” of the site. region.

“The Minidoka National Historic Site is of profound significance both to the nation as a whole and to the Japanese-American community as it relates to the lessons of a blatant violation of the constitutional rights of a group of American citizens,” Robyn Achilles, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. e-mail.

According to the final version of the project, the closest wind turbine to the historic site would be located 14 kilometers away.

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Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador also opposed the wind project. In a press release issued Friday, he denounced the federal government for implementing the project “regardless of the damage to farms, ranches, rural communities, agricultural aviation, water supplies, to Idaho’s wildlife and historic sites.”

The Bureau of Land Management said it spent hundreds of hours speaking with members of the Japanese American community, as well as Native American leaders, ranchers and other local agencies. According to the agency, the final project reduced potential impacts to sage grouse, wildlife migration routes, a nearby airport, public land ranchers and other culturally significant areas.

Under the Biden administration, the Interior Department has approved 43 renewable energy projects on public lands, the Bureau of Land Management said. The administration’s goal is to authorize 25 gigawatts of energy on public lands renewable energy – enough to power around 12 million homes – by 2025, in particular thanks to wind and solar projects.