Members of the Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium (JACSC), which includes Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, are grateful for the National Park Service’s release  last week of funding opportunity notices for two critical programs.

Congress had approved spending $4.655 million for the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) and Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) programs for the 2026 fiscal year, but the terms for grant applications had not been released. 

Without the notices of funding opportunities, known as NOFOs, organizations lacked the necessary guidelines to apply for the grants. The lack of the NOFOs prevented organizations from planning for future programs backed by either JACS or JACE grants.

JACS grants have enabled consortium members to build museums, develop educational programs and restore essential parts of their camp sites. 

Recently awarded JACE grants from the 2025 fiscal year will enable the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and four Rocky Mountain confinement sites to offer educational workshops and programs, while Densho and the National Japanese American Historical Society plan detailed programs with their grants.

JACSC leaders met in Washington last week to lobby members of Congress and the Interior Department to support the release of the notices and to push for continued funding of the JACS and JACE programs. They thank Interior and the bipartisan group of legislators who supported the release of the notices and the two programs.

Participants in last week’s fly-in included the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial Association, Densho, Japanese American Citizens League, Fred T. Korematsu Institute, Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Okagesama, Jerome Rohwer Committee, Minidoka Pilgrimage Planning Committee, National Japanese American Historical Society, National Japanese American Memorial Foundation, Poston Community Alliance, Topaz Museum and Tule Lake Committee.

The Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium is a national network of organizations working to preserve sites and artifacts related to the Japanese American incarceration experience during World War II and dedicated to interpreting this history for the benefit of public education. It can be reached at info@jacsc.org.