Heart Mountain Calls for Continued JACS Funding

April 6, 2026

The Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) program of the National Park Service has had overwhelming bipartisan support since its creation 20 years ago. The program has developed the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center and institutions throughout the country.

That’s why we are concerned about the administration’s failure to include funding for JACS in the budget proposal released Friday. Not only has the $4,655,000 included in last year’s budget been eliminated for the 2027 fiscal year, but there is a proposed 86 percent cut in all National Park Service cultural programs.

Money spent on JACS projects goes directly into local communities, supporting construction and supply jobs, backing educators and stimulating tourism. Heart Mountain restored the root cellar used by incarceree farmers during World War II, a project that employed construction and restoration workers from Wyoming and Montana.

The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation (HMWF) will join leaders of other Japanese American confinement sites in Washington in two weeks to meet with members of Congress, administration officials and others to emphasize the importance of JACS and similar programs that ensure that we don’t forget this chapter of history.

“We’re grateful for the support of the Wyoming delegation for JACS, and we hope that they will be able to support us once again,” said Shirley Ann Higuchi, chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation.

We urge supporters of Heart Mountain and other groups across the country in calling for the continued support of this vital and cost-effective program.

 

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