WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo (both R-Idaho) today sent a letter to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone Manning demanding the agency reject the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project following the passage of their bill to delay the project out of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

“The message is clear. Do not approve such a controversial and unwanted project in the final days of this administration. Publishing a favorable Record of Decision at this point would be irresponsible and reprehensible,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to seriously consider the rejection of this project by Idahoans, the Japanese American community, and now the committee of jurisdiction in the United States Senate. Do not move forward with Lava Ridge.”

Risch and Crapo’s bill would specifically prohibit any authorization of the Lava Ridge Wind Energy project until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conducts a comprehensive review of its adverse effects on the Minidoka National Historic Site.

Senator Risch led the Idaho delegation in introducing legislation and other measures to block the Lava Ridge Wind Energy Project, which would build hundreds of wind turbines on nearly 100,000 acres of public land in Southern Idaho. The proposed Lava Ridge project would visually compromise the Minidoka National Historic Site, a relocation site where more than 13,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War Two. The project has received repeated, formal, and passionate opposition from the Idaho State Legislature, Idaho’s Constitutional Officers, impacted county and city officials, and many in the Japanese American Community. 

Read the full letter here.