A Cold Winter Forecast for Walla Walla
Skyrocketing fuel prices and a severe supply shortage threaten to make the upcoming winter an expensive struggle for local residents.
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From the present indications it will cost the people of Walla Walla no small amount of money to keep warm during the coming winter. The prices of fuel are increasing at a rapid rate, and those who did not lay in a good supply of wood during the summer will now have to pay fancy prices for heating material. Local dealers are asking $11.50 per cord for sawed wood and $6 for four-foot lengths, though lots of the latter are being delivered at prices ranging from $5.50 to $5.75 per cord. The supply in the mountains near Meacham is diminishing very fast, and the demand in Pendleton is taking nearly all of the available timber from that section. Some Walla Walla dealers have contracted for several thousand cords from Gibbon and Meacham but have been unable to secure as much as was desired. Nearly all the wood now used in Walla Walla is coming from Hood River. Eugene Tausick had 1,500 cords engaged from Hood River parties, but several days ago the entire lot was carried into the Columbia River by a flood. Mr. Tausick has just returned from Hood River, where he placed another order for a similarly large supply.
“From the present indications it will cost the people of Walla Walla no small amount of money to keep warm during the coming winter.”
Energy cost volatility remains a perennial issue in the Inland Northwest. While residents today rely on natural gas or electricity rather than cordwood, the anxiety over heating bills during a harsh winter continues to be a defining civic stressor.
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