Resolution No. 2022-11 Supporting BIJAEMA and Minidoka National Historic Site - Approved 030822Page 1 of 3
RESOLUTION NO. 2022-11
A RESOLUTION of the City Council of Bainbridge Island, Washington
supporting the protection of the Minidoka National Historic Site and urging the
Washington State Congressional Delegation to support and protect it and the
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial in the face of funding
concerns and development threats.
WHEREAS, in 1942 a monumental wrong was perpetrated under the cover of
government authority. The rights of citizens of Japanese ancestry were ignored, and they were
imprisoned. Wartime hysteria and racism combined to support this injustice; and
WHEREAS, eighty years ago, on February 19, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signed Executive Order No. 9066, which authorized the removal of anyone of Japanese
American ancestry from the entire west coast of the United States; and
WHEREAS, on March 24 of that year the Bainbridge Island Japanese American
community were notified that they would be forced from their homes in 6 days and sent to an
unknown destination; and
WHEREAS, on March 30, 1942, 227 Bainbridge Islanders of Japanese American
descent were herded aboard the Ferry KEHLOKEN, on their way to concentration camps in
California and ultimately in Minidoka, Idaho; and
WHEREAS, after World War II over half of the exiled Islanders returned to Bainbridge
Island where they were welcomed and resumed their roles as valued members of the Bainbridge
Island Community; and
WHEREAS, in the years after the War members of the Japanese American community
around the country pushed for public acknowledgement of the wrong that had been perpetrated
on their people; and
WHEREAS, in 2001, the site of the concentration camp at Minidoka, Idaho, where most
Bainbridge Islanders spent their incarceration, was made a part of the National Park
Service(“NPS”) as a National Historic Site; and
WHEREAS, the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community was involved in
developing the general management plan for Minidoka; and
WHEREAS, at the same time, leaders of the Bainbridge Island Japanese American
Community and other concerned citizens decided to create a Memorial to the exclusion
experience on Bainbridge Island; and
WHEREAS, in December 2005, the NPS completed the "Bainbridge Island Japanese
American Memorial Study of Alternatives and Environmental Assessment;" and
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WHEREAS, in 2006, NPS completed the general management plan that identified
Minidoka's fundamental resources and values including protecting the site's existing views; and
WHEREAS, in 2008, Rep. Jay Inslee of Washington worked with Rep. Mike Simpson of
Idaho to pass bipartisan legislation to expand and redesignate the Minidoka National Historic
Site to include the Eagledale Ferry Dock site on Bainbridge Island; and
WHEREAS, together, Minidoka and the Bainbridge Island Memorial help tell the story
of the forced incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. They also serve as
places for healing and education; and
WHEREAS, in 2006 Congress established the Japanese American Confinement Sites
(JACS) grant program, administered by the NPS. The JACS grant program has been crucial to
the ability to preserve and develop such historically and culturally important sites as Minidoka
and the Bainbridge Island Memorial. Funding for the JACS grant program is exhausted, and
many needs remain unmet; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) in Idaho announced
plans to study a massive wind energy project which would be located on federal public land
within the historic footprint of Minidoka; and
WHEREAS, the NPS mission is to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural
resources and values we hold dear. In furtherance of that mission, NPS is working to ensure that
Minidoka's particular integrity and fundamental resources and values remain unimpaired for the
benefit of future generations; and
WHEREAS, on his first day in office President Biden issued an Executive Order on
Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal
Government; and
WHEREAS, the preservation and protection of the Japanese American confinement
sites, and in particular Minidoka, is important for the Bainbridge Island Japanese American
Community, for Japanese Americans everywhere, and for the country as a whole in the ongoing
struggle against racial injustice; and
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BAINBRIDGE ISLAND DOES RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City of Bainbridge Island supports the Department of the Interior's
implementation of President Biden's day one executive order to advance racial justice by
including a funding increase for Minidoka in the Department's budget request to Congress and
supports the reauthorization and renewed funding of the JACS grant program.
Section 2. The City of Bainbridge Island supports the work of the National Park Service
to protect Minidoka's integrity and fundamental resources and values unimpaired for the benefit
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of future generations. The City supports protective measures on nearby BLM land to protect the
park's immersive setting, views of distant mountains and sense of remoteness, feeling and
association.
Section 3. The City also encourages the BLM to engage with members of the Bainbridge
Island community during the compliance process for the National Environmental Policy Act and
Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
Section 4. The City of Bainbridge Island respectfully requests the support of its elected
officials in Congress to work to ensure that the Department of the Interior does not approve the
Lava Ridge Wind Project in any way that will negatively affect the integrity and fundamental
resources and values of Minidoka.
Section 5. If any one or more sections, subsections, or sentences of this resolution are held
to be unconstitutional or invalid, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining
portion of this resolution and the same shall remain in full force and effect.
Section 6. This Resolution shall take effect and be in force immediately upon its passage.
PASSED by the City Council this 8th day of March, 2022.
APPROVED by the Mayor this 8th day of March, 2022.
Joe Deets, Mayor
ATTEST/AUTHENTICATE:
By: ______________________________
Christine Brown, MMC, City Clerk
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK: February 23, 2022
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: March 8, 2022
RESOLUTION NO. 2022-11