‘It’s just not enough’

New border hours don’t do much for local business

METALINE FALLS – The border station near Metaline Falls is extending its hours, but it doesn’t seem like a lot of North Pend Oreille County residents are celebrating.

“It’s just not enough,” says Stacy Pelkie, Executive Director of The Cutter Theatre in Metaline Falls.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection sent out a press release in November announcing there will be adjusted hours of operation for 38 ports of entry along the U.S. northern border, beginning at midnight, Jan. 6, 2025. This includes the Metaline Falls-Nelway Border Crossing in North Pend Oreille County where operating hours will be expanded to be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hours are currently 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic the hours were 8 a.m. to midnight.

According to CBP’s public relations, the change, in collaboration with Canada Border Services Agency, will allow CBP, “to increase border security while facilitating legitimate cross-border trade and travel.”

The press release goes on to read that CBP officers will be deployed to busier ports of entry, “enabling the agency to use its resources most effectively for its critical national security and border security missions.”

Metaline Falls is about 10 miles south of the Canadian border. The international border crossing is on Highway 31, a roadway that first connected the town to British Columbia in 1923. The Metaline Falls crossing is one of 13 total on the Washington/British Columbia border.

“You could argue that 6 p.m. is better than 4 p.m., but that doesn’t get us back our Canadian customers who would come to our events back when the border was open from 8 a.m. to midnight,” Pelkie says. “Now if they come, they have to plan for an overnight stay.”

Overnight stays are a good thing for Arlie Ward, owner and operator of the historic Washington Hotel located a couple blocks up the street from the Cutter.

Built in 1910, Ward’s mother purchased the Washington Hotel in 1973, and he became full owner after she passed away in 1996. He lives in the space where the dining hall and kitchen used to be and rents out the boarding house style rooms upstairs for $100 a night. He estimates he gets about 50 to 60 guests per month during the summer.

“It really hasn’t hurt me,” Ward says of the curtailed border hours. He adds that is busiest time is in the summer, when hikers on the Pacific Northwest Trail come through town on their way to the Olympic coast. “Things are slow for me in the winter either way. But I do feel sorry for the other businesses that got a boost from our neighbors to the north.”

Pelkie estimates that the Cutter loses approximately $1,900 per year from the restricted border hours.

“It may not seem like much, but when you’re a non-profit it’s plenty,” Pelkie says The adjustment in hours, according to the CBP, “Formalize current operating hours that have been in effect for more than four years at 13 ports of entry across the northern border, with eight ports of entry expanding hours.”

A small number of ports will see reduced hours to, “continually align resources to operational realities. Travelers who use these affected crossing locations will have other options within a reasonable driving distance.”

The vast majority of the 118 northern border ports of entry will continue to operate at existing hours, including many with 24/7 operations.

The press release goes on to read that CBP will remain engaged with local and regional stakeholders, as well as communities to ensure consistent communication and to address concerns.

However, when asked if the there are plans to eventually return hours at the Metaline Falls-Nelway Border Crossing from 8 a.m. to midnight, Jason Givens of CBP Media Relations said that at this time, there are no plans to expand hours further.

“Importantly, these adjustments have been made in close coordination with CBSA to ensure aligned operational hours that further enhance the security of both countries,” Givens wrote in an email. “CBP continually monitors operations, traffic patterns, and volume, and analyzes the best use of resources to better serve the traveling public.”

When asked how many agents are employed at the Metaline Falls border crossing, Givens did not provide numbers.

“The number of CBP officers employed at a particular port of entry is law enforcement sensitive information,” Givens replied in the email.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation statistics, Metaline Falls has an annual average of 34,847 vehicle crossings, but not all of those are personal vehicles.

“I think it has affected the community,” says Shirley Botzheim of the limited hours. Botzheim has owned Sweet Creek Creations, a fabric and quilting store on Metaline Falls, for the past 30 years. “And I don’t just mean here in North Pend Oreille County, all though it has. Our countries are too close together to make that big of a distinction timewise. They (Canadian businesses) are also losing business.”

For those people coming into the United States from Canada, the border is open a bit later, until 8 p.m.

Locate ports of entry and access border wait times at www.bwt.cbp.gov.

Editor's Note: The original post of this story incorrectly stated the Cutter loses approximately $1,900 per month. We regret any confusion this may have caused.