We
received this news update from leaders of theTule
Lake Committee, which has filed
suit tostop constructionof
a massive 8-foot high, 3-mile fence around the local airport
that will cut off public access to the Tule Lake site.
“Besides being utterly unnecessary in such a
desolate place, such a fence would desecrate the physical
and spiritual aspects of Tule Lake, which has great
historical and personal importance to me and many others,”
says filmmaker and therapist Satsuki Ina inher
petition on Change.org.
The Herald and News of Klamath Falls, Oregon,
recently reported on aMarch
19 meeting on National Park
Service planning for the overall site. In discussing what it
calls the” knotty lawsuit,” the article quotes locals who
support the fence without getting comment from Japanese
American opponents.
Here, then, is the comment from fence
opponents:
NEWS UPDATE: Thank
you for your support of our action to stop the fence at
Tule Lake.
We maintain that this $3.5 million dollar
plan to erect a massive 3-mile long, 8-foot high
perimeter fence around the Tulelake Airport, accompanied
by a dozen related projects, will cause destruction to
Tule Lake’s historic fabric and close most of the site
to future visitation.
In American history, the Tule Lake
concentration camp was the site of devastating offenses
to our Constitution, the rule of law, and the right of
due process. It is a place of mourning, a place where
thousands of lives were destroyed. Rather than helping
to heal the wounds of the wartime injustice, the
proposed Tulelake airport expansion on this historic
site continues to send an unfortunate message of
exclusion.
Mike Reynolds, superintendent of Lava
Beds National Monument and the Tule Lake Unit, WWII
Valor in the Pacific National Monument, describes the
size and scope of the Newell project to about 60 people
March 19 at Tulelake High School — Herald and News photo
by Gerry O’Brien
Under California law, Modoc County’s plan
to extend an expiring 40-year land lease for another 30
years requires environmental review because Tule Lake is
a California Historic Landmark. Attorneys for Modoc
County believed they could waive compliance, leaving the
Tule Lake Committee little recourse to filing a Writ of
Mandamus so the courts could decide.
We are currently in pre-trial
discussions. Parties to the lawsuit include Modoc
County, the City of Tulelake, the Macy’s crop dusting
business, and the Tule Lake Committee.
In the meantime, if you haven’t yetsigned
the petitionto
Stop the Fence at Tule Lake, please consider doing so now.
You’ll be joining nearly 26,000 signatories, most of whom
signed thanks to the support of actor/activist George Takei
on the basis of this one single tweet:
Here also is Mr.
Takei’s personal testimony on the petition:
When I was but a small
child, my family and I were forced at gunpoint from our
home in Los Angeles and spent years in two internment
camps, first in the swamplands of Arkansas, and then at
Tule Lake. I have spent my life ensuring that we never
forget, and never repeat, these mistakes of the past.
This fence would prevent any visitors to the grounds of
the former internment camp, include the infamous
stockade. It would be a body blow to our efforts to keep
this critical piece of American history, however
blighted, from fading from our collective memory.
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C.
section 107, any copyrighted material
herein is distributed without profit or
payment to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving this
information for non-profit research and
educational purposes only. For more
information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
We
received this news update from leaders of the Tule
Lake Committee, which has filed
suit to stop construction of
a massive 8-foot high, 3-mile fence around the local airport
that will cut off public access to the Tule Lake site.