The Price of a Snowless Winter
A mild, open winter in the Palouse has left mill operator William Codd unable to transport thousands of feet of timber to his Colfax mill.
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Wm. Codd began Monday his log drive from the upper Palouse to his mill at Colfax. The demand for lumber has been large for two years, and Mr. Codd expected to meet it with a drive of 4,000,000 feet of saw timber; but the snowless winter has been a most disappointing one and he has been unable to place in the water quite half this amount. He estimates that his drive will be 1,700,000 or 1,800,000 feet only. He had cut in the woods fully 4,000,000 feet, but the almost entire lack of snow made it impossible to put the entire cut in the water. This is one of the ill effects of a mild and open winter, such as the Palouse country has just passed through.
“This is one of the ill effects of a mild and open winter, such as the Palouse country has just passed through.”
This report highlights a historic struggle where local industry relied on seasonal conditions that are becoming increasingly unpredictable due to climate change. The impact of 'snowless winters' on regional supply chains remains a recurring theme in the Pacific Northwest.
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