Columbia Chronicles More Retirees, Vacationers Filling Camps, Buying Lots

The retired railroad worker and his wife were loading their boat at the Seven Bays dock when they spotted us and guessed we were from the newspaper.

“Thanks a lot,” the man said flatly. “That’s all we need - more publicity.”

When they bought their lot overlooking Lake Roosevelt in 1970, they never dreamed they’d have more than a neighbor or two, his wife said.

Seven Bays is a small community now, a haven for retirees and wheat farmers. Construction workers start pounding at 7 a.m. on more houses.

It’s the same in many other places along the 130-mile-long reservoir. Newcomers buy small parcels and cut driveways into the clay up north or the volcanic ash farther south and west, causing old-timers to pine for the days when their playground was undiscovered.

We met a walleye fisherman in Daisy, Wash., who used to fish at Fort Spokane but now goes farther north for more elbow room. We met campers who complained they used to show up on Saturdays and have their choice of campsites. We met townspeople who remember when a place by the lake was affordable and who wish they’d had the foresight to buy.

“FDR Estates” reads one sign near Grand Coulee Dam, where a dusty lot in the sage sells for $45,000. Fifteen of the 43 lots have been sold, and workers are building the first $200,000 house.

The newcomers are being pushed here by crowds on other lakes and in other woods.

They’re being drawn by chambers of commerce that think up new events.

And they’re being drawn by Indian tribes, which are turning to tourism now that the salmon are gone. The Spokanes opened a casino and marina at Fort Spokane last year. The Colvilles plan marinas at Inchelium and Grand Coulee. Both tribes raise fish for tourists to catch.

“We have the resources,” said one member of the Colville Tribes. “Why shouldn’t we make a living off them?”

, DataTimes