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Many vacation plans go up in smoke JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) – The wildfires raging across the West have spoiled many tourists’ vacation plans, closing streams, backpacking areas and dude ranches and clouding the usually sparkling mountain air.
Tired from a day’s sightseeing in Yellowstone, Ann Lewis and her two children returned to the Flagg Ranch last Tuesday, only to be ordered to evacuate because of an approaching wildfire. The San Bernardino, Calif., woman and about 500 other Flagg guests ended up scrambling. Frustrated tourists crowded area lodges as they rushed to change their vacation plans. Some worried about cancellation fees. Others grumbled about having to drive more than 100 miles out of their way because Yellowstone’s south entrance was closed by the fire. Lewis spent hours trying to get her family’s belongings from the resort and finding a motel room. Eventually she found one in Jackson, about 60 miles away. “It was a nightmare,” Lewis said. Wildfires have burned more than 5 million acres this year in the nation’s worst fire season in decades. Hundreds of homes have burned, and thousands of people have been driven out. The fires have driven campers from their tents and RVs and closed wilderness areas in Yellowstone and other places to hikers and berry pickers. Smoke has obstructed the view of the Grand Tetons. “We’ve definitely seen a drop in numbers” in the Bitterroot Valley, said Shannon Montoya with the regional tourism agency in Missoula. “Of course they would – there’s no hiking, no camping and no water sports.” There are no firm figures on the financial effect on tourism in Montana and Idaho, the two states hit hardest this year. But fires bring in money as well as drive it away, said Matthew Cohn, head of Travel Montana, the state tourism promotion agency. They attract armies of firefighters and suppliers, news reporters and Red Cross workers, who spend money on food, lodging and supplies. Idaho Commerce Director Gary Mahn said tourism in the closed areas could result in $20 million in lost business. That is just a fraction of the state’s $2 billion tourism industry, but Mahn said it has a ripple effect through the economy. And the Northern Rockies states are approaching the start of the all-important fall hunting seasons, which bring in thousands of big-spending sportsmen each year. The fire danger could result in the closing of some areas to hunting. Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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