Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
View from Kamiak
-Pullman Chamber photo
A shot from Kamiak Butte shows how “Picture Perfect” the Palouse can be.
There are creatures on the Palouse that have become a nuisance. They disregard property and boundaries, going where they please, even to the point of stopping traffic and damaging crops. This year their numbers have grown.
They are amateur photographers.
“This year it’s way out of control,” said Carol Cooper, Pullman Chamber of Commerce tourism director.
Cooper reported to the Palouse Scenic Byway committee Monday at the Public Service Building in Colfax. She pointed out the rash of disrespectful photographers has caused her to make changes to Picture Perfect Palouse, a brochure originally published in 2013. It gave information on highlights of the Palouse, including a map pinpointing specific photo opportunities. After extensive complaints from landowners, and from professional photographers, the original brochures have been recalled and revised.
The new brochure still has a map of the Palouse Scenic Byway, but it only shows towns and cities, road names and public lands, such as parks.
Cooper has received reports of photographers walking into barns, camping in wheat fields, walking past no trespassing signs and entering abandoned buildings on private property, getting hurt and trying to collect from property owners.
Owners of one structure reported photographers this year are rude and obnoxious.
“It’s not the professional photographers by any means,” Cooper told the byway committee. The professionals are also complaining about the actions of this new wave of photographers.
In addition to removing the location of private property sites, Cooper has added several notes and articles to the brochure to encourage ethics.
“This guide is not a license to trespass. Please respect the property of others,” is written in an orange box on the front of the brochure.
“There is plenty of beauty in our area without feeding our residents to the ungrateful,” Cooper stated in her report to the committee.
Cooper also manages the Picture Perfect Palouse Facebook page which she set up in 2015. The page is a place where photographers can share their pictures and experiences on the Palouse and the Palouse Scenic Byway.
To discourage the trespassing and unethical behavior, hundreds of photos were deleted if they appeared to be taken illicitly. The cover was amended with text stating photographs which appear to be taken while trespassing would not be posted.
“Stay out of fields. Stay off of property which does not belong to you or for which you have not received permission from the landowner. Respect the privacy of residents, their fields, their homes, and their lives,” it also reads.
Cooper added she is now very cautious about what she puts on the page.
Encouraging photography tourism has been a double-edged sword which, until this year, has brought more positives than negatives.
“It has been a good thing for revenue...but it gets to the point we’re not doing a service to our landowners,” Cooper told the Gazette.
She noted in past years landowners did not mind the presence of photographers. It seems to be that if a picture of a place or structure has been taken by one person, then others feel they can photograph it as well. The big difference is the original was taken with the permission of the landowner whereas now such courtesies are disregarded. Cooper said the photographers act as if they are “entitled.”
Cooper said she already has plans to pull away from promoting photography in 2018. Instead, she will focus on other Palouse tourism activities, such as bicycling.
“There are other aspects of the Palouse that can generate revenue,” she said.
Jana Mathia is a reporter at the Whitman County Gazette.
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