Smoke, wildfire take mounting toll on Chelan tourism

CHELAN — Persistent wildfire smoke is taking a mounting toll on Chelan’s tourism economy, with city officials reporting sharp declines at city facilities during one of the most important months of the year for local businesses.

Chelan Parks and Recreation Director Audrey Cooper told the City Council that play at the Lake Chelan Golf Course was down 41% during a recent seven-day period compared with the same period last year, while the Lakeshore RV Park received more than 100 cancellations over seven days.

“You can see it’s empty in this time of year,” Cooper said of the RV park. “We have every site booked out, every single day.”

The impacts extend beyond city-owned facilities. Mayor Erin McCardle said August is Chelan’s second-highest month for sales tax revenue and cited one local lodging business that was recently at about 10% booked.

“That kind of puts into perspective how impactful this month of August and probably September has on our local business community coming off of a slow spring and a slow winter,” McCardle said.

McCardle encouraged residents to support local businesses where possible, describing the community as “hanging on by a string.”

“I hope that this fire season isn’t the last straw that they can handle,” she said.

Councilmember Tim Hollingsworth echoed the concern during council comments.

“I know businesses are struggling,” Hollingsworth said. “So I’m trying to shop local a little bit more and I think we all got to stick together.”

Smoke has also complicated operations at the city’s tourism facilities. Cooper said the RV park normally requires three weeks’ notice for a full cancellation refund, minus an administrative fee, but the city has established a separate procedure during periods of poor air quality.

Guests may cancel on their scheduled check-in date and receive their deposit back, minus the administrative fee, if the air quality index is above 150 that day.

That has created difficult conversations with visitors who want to cancel several days ahead of their reservations based on forecasts for continued smoke.

“While we might predict that the air quality will be poor on Friday, we don’t know what’s going to happen between now and Saturday,” Cooper said.

The city is encouraging visitors who do not want to travel during the smoke to reschedule their stays rather than cancel altogether.

Staffing at the golf course has also become a concern. The city has several vacant greenskeeper positions that have proven difficult to fill in the middle of the summer season. Cooper said the smoke has temporarily reduced some maintenance demands, allowing the smaller crew to keep up with daily work, but the limited staffing could create additional pressure once conditions improve and normal play returns.

The wildfire response itself could provide some short-term economic activity in Chelan. McCardle said an incident management team is working to establish a fire camp within city limits that is expected to house approximately 200 to 250 wildland firefighters.

McCardle said the team considered the potential economic benefit to the community when selecting a location for the camp.

The mayor again urged residents to patronize local businesses as the fires and smoke continue to disrupt what would normally be one of Chelan’s busiest stretches of the year.

“Every little bit will help our local community,” McCardle said.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media