Recreation Spots Pinched By Shutdown Concessionaires, Resorts Hit By Loss Of Business

From the North Cascades to Glacier National Park, from Yellowstone to Lake Roosevelt, nowhere in the Northwest is the federal budget impasse hitting harder than at favorite winter destinations.

Denver-based T.W. Recreational Services, which operates two lodges and 234 rooms at Yellowstone, is down nearly $400,000 since the latest partial government shutdown began Dec. 13.

Almost one-third of the concessionaire’s total winter revenue is generated the last two weeks of the year, said General Manager Steve Tedder.

“We’d sure like to see somebody get off their keisters and reach some sort of agreement to get the parks open,” he said. “I think it’s ridiculous to try to use the national parks and workers as a pawn to get something accomplished.”

The remote North Cascades Stehekin Lodge, at the northwestern tip of Lake Chelan, normally is grooming its cross-country ski trails this time of year.

Travelers phone in reservations months in advance to visit a retreat accessible only by boat or float plane.

More than 100 reservations have been canceled, said Jack Raines, whose Lake Chelan Boat Co. ferries visitors to and from the government-owned lodge his firm manages.

Raines put his losses at $12,000 in little more than a week.

“The people are extremely disappointed,” he said. “They’re not holding any ill feelings toward us because they realize it’s totally out of our control.

“But they’ve shown total disgust over the reasons for us being shut down,” Raines added.

At Seven Bays Resort 30 miles north of Davenport, the Colville Confederated Tribes’ marina and restaurant are closed.

Sawhorse barriers were erected to stop anglers from launching their boats on Lake Roosevelt. Instead, fishing enthusiasts launched their own insurrection.

“I don’t even see the barricades anymore,” said Seven Bays manager Brenda Harding. “Basically, the boaters just took them down and are launching.”

At Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana, the job of turning back visitors falls on rangers such as Jerry Nelson.

Winter traffic normally is slow, although nice weekends and a good layer of snow will draw 125 cars full of cross-country skiers, Nelson said.

“Everyone understands, but there aren’t that many of them pleased,” he said.

National park concessionaires seem to be taking the brunt of the bureaucratic work stoppage. Their operations are closed, while ski areas on U.S. Forest Service land - such as Lookout Pass and 49 Degrees North - are doing business as usual.

The West Yellowstone, Mont., Chamber of Commerce is trying to put a positive spin on the shutdown. Officials are touting the area’s cross-country and snowmobile trails, even though the nearby park is closed.

Fortunately, chamber Executive Director Viki Eggers said, West Yellowstone allows skiers and snowmobiles on city streets.

“We’re not having a lot of fun,” she said. “The good news is that West Yellowstone has many miles of trails outside the park. Some of the best snowmobiling in the world is available here.”

Lodging reservations are anywhere from half to 90 percent of normal, Eggers said, “which isn’t devastating.”

The faces of visitors, however, tell another story.

“You just have to stand behind the counter at the visitors center and see the faces of the people when they realize they can’t go in there (park),” Eggers said. “It’s pretty sad.”

, DataTimes