Border closure leaves Eureka in state of uncertainty

Border communities like Eureka are preparing for the economic consequences of the United States and Canadian governments closing the U.S.-Canada border to recreational travel.

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Trump announced they were restricting “non-essential” travel at the border to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Eureka sits 13 miles from the Port of Roosville, the nearest border station, and lies along the thoroughfare between British Columbia and Whitefish, the Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park.

The most recent available data showed Canadians represent about 14 percent of visitors to Montana. That would mean about 1.6 million Canadians visited Montana in 2015, when Montana welcomed 11.7 million visitors to the state.

“They’re going to hurt, without question, they’re going to hurt,” said Sen. Mike Cuffe, R-Eureka, about Eureka’s small businesses. Cuffe is also the president of the PacificNorthwest Economic Region, a public/private nonprofit organization that includes five states and five Canadian provinces.

He said the border closing will have a tremendous impact on the economy of not just Eureka, but also the Flathead Valley and cities in Eastern Montana like Great Falls and Shelby.

But the impact is not entirely due to the border closing. As the COVID-19 crisis has coincided with a massive drop in oil prices, he said he expects the economy in Alberta and the Calgary region to take a massive hit.

On Friday, the price of WTI crude oil fell to $22.43 per barrel. This week it hit its lowest price since 1998.

Cuffe expects this will affect the Tobacco Valley, as it gets “so much money from the Calgary area,” he said. He added there are a significant number of Canadians who own second homes in the Tobacco Valley, Flathead Valley and Flathead Lake who would be coming down this time of year.

“We don’t consider that recreational tourism anymore; it’s just when the neighbors come home,” Cuffe said.

The timing of the crisis and the border closing — between winter and summer tourist seasons — is somewhat fortunate. Cuffe said the effects are less pronounced than what they would be around Christmas or closer to Memorial Day, when summer tourism really kicks into gear.

Yet uncertainty remains about how long the border will be closed.

Sara Sharp, an administrator with the Eureka Chamber of Commerce, said the border closure will be “pretty detrimental” as long as it remains in place.

“Being on the border and being a tourist town,” she said, means Eureka businesses plan for a lot of Canadian and international travelers to keep them afloat.

She said Eureka was like most other communities in that bars and restaurants had already taken steps to deal with the pandemic — like completely closing down their doors for two weeks — before Gov. Steve Bullock’s statewide closure on Friday.

But the added gut-punch of the border closure leaves businesses in an even greater state of uncertainty.

“If this was during the summer, it would have a massive impact,” Sharp said.

The Chamber of Commerce will make the decision on whether to cancel or go ahead with Rendezvous Days, scheduled for April 24-26. The festival brings many Canadians into town as well as visitors from places like Spokane and Seattle, Sharp said.

“We’re probably a little early to speculate on Rendezvous Days,” Cuffe added.

President Trump said earlier this week the upheaval related to the coronavirus could last until August. In the meantime, the border could reopen to nonessential, recreational travel. But regardless, the situation will still have a lasting impact.

Mike Skranak, manager of Stein’s Market in Eureka, said the traffic at his store has “definitely been slower.” But he said it is too early to tell what kind of impact the border closure might have.

“It could be a lot different … if it were in the middle of summer,” Skranak said.

He added that a lot of people who shop at his store were people with second homes in the area, including many Canadians.

Skranak said while he thinks he can get through the current situation, “if it goes on too long it will definitely affect the economy up here.”

With just over two months before Memorial Day, there is plenty of time for things to return to normal before the influx of summer tourist traffic arrives in Eureka. However, there is too much uncertainty to count on any kind of “normal” summer.

“Whether we like it or not … the Tobacco Valley has transitioned from a natural-resource based economy to a tourism-based economy,” Cuffe said.

The border is still open for commercial travel, like trucks carrying lumber, oil and wood chips. But there is not much timber coming out of the Tobacco Valley these days.

“Without question there is a lot of concern on what impact this is going to have.”