News Release

News Releases

Date: May 31, 2018
Contact: Larry Whalon, 530-667-8101

TULELAKE, California – The National Park Service has issued the final decision on the general management plan for the Tule Lake Unit.

 

The plan provides long-term guidance for how the National Park Service will develop and manage the unit, and how the stories of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II will be told at Tule Lake. The plan outlines several actions including:

• • Supporting visitor opportunities with an emphasis on technology;

  • Providing a year-round NPS presence at the park;

  • Providing direction for a range of preservation treatments to historic buildings and the cultural landscape; and

  • Fostering a wide variety of partnerships.

The plan does not recommend any boundary adjustments.

 

The Tule Lake Unit preserves a portion of the Tule Lake Segregation Center, which was one of 10 camps where 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. The unit also includes two areas, the Peninsula and Camp Tulelake, that were associated with the Tule Lake Segregation Center during World War II. Designated in 2008 by President George W. Bush, the purpose of the Tule Lake Unit is to preserve, study, and interpret the history and setting of the incarceration of Japanese Americans at Tule Lake. Between 1942 and 1946, over 29,000 people of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated there, and two thirds of those incarcerated were US citizens.

 

“The NPS is pleased to finalize the plan for the Tule Lake Unit and share it with the public. The plan includes ideas raised by the public and addresses concerns from important communities associated with Tule Lake, including those who experienced Tule Lake firsthand and local neighboring communities. Implementing the plan will not happen all at once; it’s likely to take many years, as funds and resources become available. We’re looking forward to the work ahead in realizing the plan’s vision, together with our partners and local community,” says Lawrence Whalon, Superintendent of the Tule Lake Unit and Lava Beds National Monument.

 

The decision and final plan, in the form of a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), is available at parkplanning.nps.gov/TuleLakeGMP.

 

To learn more about about the Tule Lake Unit, please see the unit website: https://www.nps.gov/tule/getinvolved/tule-lake-general-management-plan.htm.