The Winds of Change: The Decline of Extractive Industries and the Rise of Tourism in Hood River County, Oregon

Abstract

JASON PIERCE The Winds of Change TheDecline ofExtractiveIndustries and the Rise ofTourism in Hood RiverCounty,Oregon THE STORY OF THE CITY AND countyofHood River is thestory of much of the rural Pacific Northwest. Originally built around the logging and horticulture industries, the town in the 1970s increasingly became identified with tourism and recreation. Older residents, often with roots in the tradi tional extractive industries, saw Hood River transformed before their eyes, and theywere left wondering if the new town would remain true to their memories. The rise of tourism also brought new people to the region, often with outside money, while many long-time residents saw their employment opportunities shrink and housing prices escalate. Tourism, especially the sport ofwindsurfing, also helped change the relationship between people and nature, as work in extractive industries gave way to participation in a variety of recreational pastimes that seemed more natural. In a littlemore than twenty-five years, Hood River changed dramatically, but the changes have not always been easy or welcomed. Logging and horticulture rose to prominence inHood River's economy during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Although logging employment was a significant part of the economy, it was horticulture that put Hood River on themap. The county ? created out of nearby Wasco County in 1908?was fifth inhorticultural production by 1910.By 1940, itled the statewith afruit harvest valued at $2.2million, nearly double the second place showing of $1.4 million for Jackson County.1 Rising upward toward Mount Hood, past the towns ofHood River and Parkdale, orchards enlivened the landscape, often appearing in thewake of lumber companies that had cleared the land ofmassive old-growth timber. Together, these industries were themost tangible sign of the transformation brought to the area by OHQ vol. 108, no. 3 ? 2007 Oregon Historical Society ThisMay 25,1930,photograph shows thescenicbeauty and directaccess to the riverthathas brought tourists,includingwindsurfers, to Hood Riverfor decades. Development has comewith thosenewpeople and industries,and a marina and hotelsnow line theriverbank. white settlement.2 By 1910,Hood River boasted 744 farms and orchards and since then has remained Oregon's premier fruit-growing region.3 As fresh fruit replaced canned fruit,as crops shifted from strawberries to apples and finally pears, and asHispanic farmworkers became the region's primary labor force, the industry adapted to changes caused by fluctuations in themarket and consumer tastes. Increasingly, growers faced pressures from developers and from the challenges thrown up by international competition. Still, the orchards endured, adapting even to the rise of the tourist economy. Hood River's logging industrywas not so resilient.Mills suffered throughout the last half of the twentieth century as the loss of old-growth trees, changing technology, the export of unmilled logs, environmental restrictions, and Pierce, Extractive Industries'Decline and Tourism's Rise inHood River 411 international competition decimated the industry. By 2000, the logging industry was a shadow ofwhat ithad once been. Historian Bernard DeVoto once famously declared that the West was a "plundered province," an economic colony of the industrial East whose sole purpose was to feed rawmaterials to the eastern industrial machine.4 He believed that this exploitative relationship forced westerners into a politi cally and economically subservient position. Inmany ways, he was correct; but, despite their shortcomings, farming, ranching, logging, and mining also provided the region with employment and gave the ruralWest a solid place in theAmerican economy. The West's place in the global economy, however, is stilluncertain. The fluidity of capital and competition from other nations and regions, aided by theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and other trade pacts, has weakened and inmany cases destroyed the West's oldest and most important industries. In 1994, only seven Oregon andWashington interior counties ? those east of the Cascade Mountains ? had more than 35 percent of their population employed in extractive industries. Hood River County was not one of them.5The economic purpose of the rural Northwest had become uncertain. In some places, Hood River among them, tourism was poised to fill in the vacuum. The decline of the extractive economy began in themid-1970s as a result of the national oil crisis, what economists labeled "stagflation," and the general economic "malaise...