From the Outside Looking In

Air quality in Hood River was the largest problem impacting tourism and the economy. Above is a photo taken outside of Hood River borderline days after the ignition of Cougar Creek.

 Last summer, Hood River County became the sink of all the smoke coming from Cougar Creek fire across the river, which resulted in a 53,500 acre burn, and the Warm Springs fire, which resulted in over 65,000 acres burned. This was the first time I began to personally experience some of the minor economic impacts that large forest fires create. Smoke bogged down the city, you could not see across the river, go kiteboarding, trail running, or mountain biking. Tourism, which is what fuels the town for many, slowed down to a minimum during one of the busiest times of year. I remember watching the Cougar Creek fire develop while at work, you could smell the smoke from the little brewpub and it looked like Mt Adams had blown up. The few customers we got that day were either retreating campers from Mt Adams or simply trying to get out of the little smoke haze. Throughout the rest of the month we went from backed up waitlists and a jam packed restaurant to the awkward silence of a few tables, mine and many others hours were cut in half. As Cougar Creek became contained, conferences were held in White Salmon across the river to cover the economic loss. 45% of Cougar Creek was lost commercial timber, Yakima nation spent 3 million on stabilization, and overall 25 million was spent on suppression.