By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

PINEVILLE, Mo. — For the past three years or so, the question has been: “How much dragging is there?”

The answer this year, said Renee Lett, with Elk River Floats and Campground at Lanagan, is: “There’s none. The river is up. The river is awesome. It’s in the best shape I have seen it in 11 years.”

Unusually persistent rains this year, including three floods in the spring, have put plenty of water in the Elk River Watershed that includes Indian, Big Sugar and Little Sugar creeks.

But as awesome as the river has been, business has been less than stellar this year. When the economy went downstream this summer with record-high fuel prices, so did some of the business that would have made 2008 a banner year for tourism in McDonald County, according to those in the industry.

But local canoe outfitters and campground managers believe the river will still be up by Labor Day, and that fair weather on that weekend could end the season on an upbeat note.

Ed Ables, owner of Sugar Island east of Pineville, has felt the pinch of the downturn.

“I have been here for 27 years,” he said. “This has probably been the worst year since we have been here. Everybody says it’s the cost of gas that’s causing the problem. I don’t know if it’s that or not, but it really hasn’t been a good year.

“But the river is up, and we’re still hauling canoes to Cyclone. We normally can’t do that in August.”

Ables said the canoe-rental season lasts about four months. The work can be intense during those months.

“We have anywhere from at least five to six times a year where we have well over a hundred boats out on a given Saturday,” he said. “This year, the top day was 88 boats.”

But business has been fairly steady upstream on Big Sugar Creek at Camp Tilden, near Cyclone. Sammey Roark, owner of the campground, said: “It’s been fine camping and canoeing.

“The river has been so high at times we couldn’t float it. The river, right now, is amazing.”

John Tinsley, owner of Big Elk Camp and Canoe Rentals at Pineville, said: “We’re doing pretty good this year, but our business has been off for four years since we became an alcohol-free campground. But, it’s been the best year since we went that way.”