TULELAKE — An offer to more than double the amount the
Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma has agreed to pay for the city
of Tulelake to purchase the land underlying the Tulelake
Airport has been made by The Tule Lake Committee — a
group interested in preserving the history of the
Japanese-American internment camp there during World War
II.
In
a letter sent to Tulelake Mayor Hank Ebinger on
Thursday, Barbara Takei, the committee’s chief financial
officer, said the group will pay $40,000 for the
property, well over the $17,500 the city negotiated with
the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma.
The Tulelake City Council voted in favor of the sale to
the Tribe earlier this month and is scheduled to
consider the sale following a public hearing at its July
31 meeting. Under terms of the tentative contract, the
Modoc Tribe, based in Miami, Okla., will buy the
underlying land for $17,500. The contract stipulates the
airport will continue to be used as a public airport.
The Tule Lake Committee includes the descendants and
increasingly smaller number of Japanese-Americans who
were incarcerated at the Tule Lake Detention-Segregation
Center during the World War II years of 1942 to 1946. At
its peak, Tule Lake held more than 18,000 Japanese
Americans, more than two-thirds of them U.S. citizens.
The airport is located on a portion of the former
center.
Several years ago, the Tule Lake Committee filed legal
action against the city along with Modoc County, which
owns the airport, and Macy’s Flying Service, which
leases the airport. The suits came after Modoc County
announced plans to erect a 3-mile long, 8-foot high
fence around the airport to prevent possible
airplane-wildlife collisions.
In
its suit, the committee claims the fence “would
desecrate the site” and said the group had been working
to a settlement “to protect and preserve the site for
future generations.”
Michael Colantuono, the attorney who has represented
Tulelake in negotiations with the Modoc Tribe, could not
be contacted for comment on whether the city also
negotiated with Tule Lake Committee or what might be the
result of the group’s recent offer.
In
her letter Takei wrote, ”The Tule Lake Committee is a
non-profit corporation dedicated to the public interest
in protecting the historic integrity and access to the
Tule Lake Segregation Center, a National Historic
Monument. We are planning to attend the public hearing
on the (July) 31st to reiterate our offer to purchase
the Tulelake airport land the city of Tulelake is
preparing to sell to the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma.
“The Tule Lake Committee offered more than twice the
amount the city of Tulelake and the Modoc of Oklahoma
negotiated as the price for the airport land. We are
hopeful the city of Tulelake will consider and accept
our offer.”
Takei’s letter also says the committee “seeks to work
with all parties, in good faith, to preserve a rare
historic property that tells a multi-layered story of
the impacts our government’s policies had on the
communities of people who lived and died at the Tule
Lake site.”
