Environmental Journalist Workshop

On April 26, 2023, Friends of Minidoka and the Stop Lava Ridge Committee met at Minidoka National Historic Site with environmental journalists who had attended the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Conference at Boise State University. At this gathering, journalists from the National Geographic, Boise State Public Radio, and others joined to hear about the impact that the Lava Ridge Wind Project will have on eastern Idaho, including Minidoka National HIstoric Site. During this meeting, many spoke on themes of environmental justice and the conflict between renewable energy projects and their impacts on humans and the environments they surround. 

After hearing from county commissioners Ben Crouch, Wayne Schnek, and Jack Johnson, along with local ranchers Jim Arkoosh and farmer Dean Dimond, other individuals such as Brian Olmstead with the Idaho Water Resource Board, and Shauna Robinson from Preservation Idaho, the group took a tour of the site led by Park Ranger Kurt Ikeda. Attendees included Rachel Cohen from Boise State Public Radio, Hillary Rosner, the director of the Center for Environmental Journalism, and freelancer for National Geographic, and Aryn Braun, a correspondent for The Economist. To see the full list of journalists visit https://www.ijnr.org/sej-2023-fellows-1. 

For some, visiting Minidoka was the first time they heard about the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. The group learned about the conditions at Minidoka by visiting the barrack at site. Additionally, Executive Director Robyn Achilles provided the journalists with a perspective of how the Lava Ridge Wind Project would affect the viewshed, and journalists personally experienced the solemn and reflective immersive experience at the site.