Wallowa County Voices: Commuter feels pain of high cost of fuel

Published 7:00 am Wednesday, May 18, 2022

ENTERPRISE — She commutes between Enterprise and Wallowa for work each day and is finding the increasing cost of fuel painful, at the least.

Tasha Snyder has lived in Wallowa about 31 years, having moved there from Orofino, Idaho, when her husband’s job as a logging truck driver brought them to Wallowa County after a time in the Willamette Valley. They raised their four children in Wallowa.

“They all graduated from Wallowa High School and they all come back” to visit, she said. “They come back for hunting and they love it.”

Tasha isn’t sure just why the cost of fuel is rising so high, but she thinks it has to do with politics.

“I don’t think it’s necessary … and we’re getting hit really hard,” she said, noting that she pays nearly $6 a gallon to fuel up her diesel pickup. “I drive 50 miles round trip to work and back. It’s getting difficult. You can walk here a lot, but there’s a lot of places you can’t get to walking.”

Tasha has a job as a tax-return processor for a certified public accountant in Enterprise.

“I love it,” she said. “I like working there.”

She said she loves many things about Wallowa County.

“I love it because of the ‘outdoorsness’ of it, the people — the people are wonderful here — the community, everything about it, I just absolutely adore it,” she said.

Now that signs of spring are evident, Tasha is hoping to saddle up again.

“I like riding my horses,” she said. “I barrel race and I’m looking forward to doing that. COVID kind of put a kibosh on it the past couple of years, but now we should be OK.”

Although she hasn’t gotten a chance to read up on what’s at stake in the May 17 primary election, she plans to and is convinced it’s important.

“All elections are important,” she said. “If you want a voice in anything, you need to vote.”

For anyone planning to move to Wallowa County, Tasha says simply, “You have to be able to love it here. … It’s a great place to raise kids.”

— Bill Bradshaw,

Wallowa County Chieftain