CASCADE LOCKS — Port of Cascade Locks commissioners discussed best practices for managing their campground on March 19, a conversation continued from their March 5 meeting. With Cascade Locks campground fees long overdue for an increase, the campground sometimes functions as the cheapest local rent for the houseless, Campground Host Lauryl Nagode told commissioners — but she gets no complaints about price from campers.
With an incremental fee increase to be proposed at the port’s next meeting, campground discussions covered “how great it is, why people love it, and what we can do to improve it,” as Port Executive Director Jeremiah Blue put it.
“You don’t get backwoods campers,” Nagode said. “They pull in, they hook up, they walk anywhere they want to go.” Shopping, the sternwheeler, and quiet view of the river are all within reach. “I call them urban campers.”
A lot of people also come to fish from their boats, she said. For them, the campground is a convenient base for canoing, sailing, and collecting pikeminnow bounty.
On March 5, the commission heard a report on campground fees, which currently stand well below the going rate for other local campgrounds. Raising fees to market price, according to Operations Manager Parker Nelson on March 5, could mean increasing fees up to $75 a night, but after research and discussion of the campground's amenities and user demographics, commissioners spoke in favor of lower, incremental increases.
Port Commissioner Carrie Klute and staff compared prices and amenities to campgrounds with similar characteristics. Klute found prices of $55 to $95 a night for a slot with full amenities. However, those amenities include some that the port’s 15-slot campground lacks.
Nagode stated a belief the regulars would tolerate an increase of $10 to $20, "maybe $30" in peak season.
The campground is also the cheapest rent available to those experiencing houselessness in Cascade Locks. Last year, Nagode said the campground had an issue with people showing up, writing checks, “and then us having to literally threaten a trespass to get them out, and then help get them out.” That was an issue last year, not this year, Nagode said, recounting an experience “helping someone transition out” when other local campgrounds were too expensive for them to stay at.
With little recourse if a check bounces, Nagode proposed encouraging the use of credit cards, and discouraging checks.
“We don’t really have many issues at the campground,” Nagode added. The biggest problem can be the big numbers of PCT hikers overrunning the campground and shower facilities during summer events. Even theft is less of an issue among PCT hikers, who look tend to look out for each other, she said.
Current campground fees stand at $21 to $41 in off-peak season, and $31 to $41 in peak season. Pacific Crest Trail hikers pay $5 for a night’s stay and $5 for a shower. Columbia Gorge Racing Association (CGRA) campers pay $15 a night.
Keeping the site affordable for “the real PCT hikers” is important for sustaining summer hiking events, Blue had noted on March 5.
The campground is profitable now. “I don’t know that we can site here today and look at this and decide what the magic number is,” Blue said on March 19. The decision facing the port was whether to consider campgrounds a service they provide, or an economic driver of tourism, or something in between.
“As you start to look at pricing, and how to set price, one of the simplest and commonest things is to look at the market and see what it can bear. Another piece is to ask your customers what the value of it is. People low-ball that, because they think their answers will drive the price down,” Blue said, adding the small-sized campground will allow the port to explore management on a small scale, and “We could learn a lot that might influence decisions on whether to build more campgrounds.”
Following a consensus that increases in the neighborhood of $8 to $12 were acceptable, port staff will evaluate the information gathered and bring several considered options for fee increases to the next meeting, Blue said.
Regardless, the campground won’t generate enough revenue to solve the port’s issues, he stated. The goal is to manage it appropriately.
“It’s just a quiet community... most of my campers love to just sit on the ridge and watch ... it’s a very restful place to be,” said Nagode.
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