VIEWPOINTS
Saturday, January 6, 2018
East Oregonian
Page 5A
The hardware store next door
A
ccording to the calendar and the
scenery surrounding us, winter has
arrived in my neighborhood near
Helix.
Because I am fortunate
enough to have a warm,
dry place to sleep and am
well-fed, I enjoy many
aspects of the season.
Christmas music on the
radio, breaking ice on the
water trough, chopping
wood and traveling to
watch daughter Annie
and her schoolmates play
basketball are a few of
my favorite things. (By
the way, I’d be interested
to know the opinion of
my neighbors and friends
as to whose rendition of
“My Favorite Things” is their favorite. My
top three are by Tony Bennett, Julie Andrews
and John Coltrane.)
On a recent jaunt to watch basketball in
Wallowa, my wife’s car was out of washer
fluid and the road grime accumulating on
the windshield made it hard for her to see
the road and difficult for me to scan the
countryside for old trucks, tractors and
farm implements. This situation was easily
remedied by a quick stop at one of my
all-time favorite places of business — the
local hardware store. From the time I was
but a wee lad accompanying my father to
the family-owned and operated hardware
concern in Stanfield to buy a couple of
pounds of sixteen-penny sinkers out of the
bulk nail bin, I have been enthralled by these
important and sometimes under-appreciated
supply houses without whom America could
not have been built and
certainly could not be
repaired.
Pendleton is blessed
with one of the finest
hardware stores (on
south Main Street) I’ve
ever frequented and its
no-nonsense approach,
incredibly broad
inventory selection and
knowledgeable staff
who actually care about
the customer serve as a
fine example that, in my
opinion, is too seldom
emulated by the “big
box-store” competition. Like many other
hardware stores, it is also a great place to
visit with other folks who have been DIYers
since way before it became a fad.
One of my most unique hardware store
experiences occurred in the town of Union.
Located just down the street from a beautiful
old Carnegie library is a combination
hardware and liquor store. I purchased a
prybar and a bottle of peach schnapps.
Our little town of Helix had a hardware
store from at least as early as 1895 when
a Mr. Sones (either Pete or Fred, further
research required) set up shop. The Norvell
family became proprietors around 1905
and for many years sold farm implements,
Without hardware
stores, America
could not have
been built and
certainly could not
be repaired.
Drastic management changes
aren’t the answer to wildfire
L
ike a lot of small towns in the
were relatively low intensity, and
West, my town of Ashland
many were likely set deliberately
is nestled in a lovely valley
by Native Americans, who made
surrounded by conifer forests.
sophisticated use of fire as a land-
The forests grow on public lands
management tool. These fires cleared
managed by the Forest Service and
out dense thickets and fallen limbs
the Bureau of Land Management,
and maintained a relatively open
and last year, as in many recent
forest structure in many areas.
Decades of fire suppression,
years, there were fires on those
Pepper
coupled with logging that has
lands. The town of Ashland was not
Trail
replaced complex mixed-age forests
threatened, but our valley filled with
Comment
with uniform-aged stands and tree
thick, eye-burning smoke for weeks
plantations, has certainly made things
at a time.
worse, increasing the likelihood of severe,
It was miserable. Outdoor theater and
stand-replacing fires.
music events were canceled, drastically
But that is increasingly overshadowed
affecting the summer tourist season, which
is critical for our economy. Folks who would by another factor affecting wildland fire
frequency and severity: climate change.
usually be out hiking, camping, fishing,
There is not a single mention of the role of
birding and rafting stayed indoors. Parents
climate change in the Westerman bill, so it
kept their kids inside. Everyone got cranky.
looks like I was too generous to set aside that
We’ve never had a summer with smoke as
whole cynical exploitation thing.
bad as this.
Much research now supports the
Understandably, people don’t want to
correlation between climate change and fire
go through this again next summer — or
seasons that start earlier and end later, with
ever. And so the search is on for solutions.
Some are taking this opportunity to advocate more days of extreme “fire weather.” Such
fire weather led to the devastating fires of
for drastic changes in public-lands forest
2017, in Northern California. Those fires
management. The primary vehicle for this
burned at least 245,000 acres, destroyed
effort is the “Resilient Federal Forests Act,”
almost 9,000 buildings, and cost over $3
H.R. 2936, often called the Westerman bill
billion. They were almost entirely on private
for its primary sponsor, Republican Rep.
land, not on national forests. The severity of
Bruce Westerman of Arkansas. In the name
those fires had nothing to do with a lack of
of making forests “resilient” to fire, it would
logging.
promote logging by sharply curtailing
We are kidding ourselves if we think
existing environmental laws.
Among other provisions, it would
we can find a “solution” to wildlands fire
restrict citizen involvement in public-lands
and the smoke that comes with it. Such
management by limiting legal challenges
thinking denies fire its place as a natural and
under the National Environmental Policy Act inevitable part of this environment where
and other laws; greatly expand “categorical
we have chosen to live. Our forests need
exclusions” in areas of up to 10,000
fire, and there is no way we can exclude
acres where logging and post-fire salvage
it. Instead of trying to log our way out of
could occur without any environmental
fire danger, we need to adapt ourselves
assessment; and eliminate the “survey
to the reality of living in this fire-adapted
and manage” program that provides data
landscape. We can, and should, practice
essential for informed forest management.
“fireproof” landscaping around our homes,
This truly radical bill has passed the House
and carry out larger fuels-reduction projects
and awaits consideration by the Senate.
in high-risk areas like the wildland-urban
Let’s be generous for a moment. Let’s
interface at the edge of our towns.
say that the Westerman bill is not a cynical
But we can’t “solve” fire here in
attempt to exploit anxiety about fire to
Oregon any more than Florida can “solve”
achieve otherwise unattainable amounts of
hurricanes. Both are natural phenomena
logging, long sought by the timber industry.
— and both are bound to get worse with
Let’s assume that it’s a genuine attempt
unchecked climate change. Our best hope of
to solve the problem of fire — which, of
a future with ecologically appropriate forest
course, implies: (1) that fire is a problem;
fires and tolerable levels of smoke is to take
and (2) that it can be solved.
immediate action to limit climate change.
Most Western conifer forests, except
What do you say, Congress: Want to focus
those along the rain-drenched Pacific Coast,
on a real problem for a change?
are adapted to frequent fires. That is true
■
of my region of southern Oregon, where
Pepper Trail is a contributor to Writers
studies of tree rings have shown that fires
on the Range, the opinion service of High
historically returned to a piece of ground
Country News. He is a writer and forensic
every 15-20 years or so. Most of those fires
biologist in Oregon.
including P&O and, later, Oliver plows. We
have one such plow purchased in the 1930s
in our collection. John Freeman Young
bought out Norvells in the early 1950s and
was also an insurance agent.
For a time, he was also a dealer in Calkins
farm equipment. I have a receipt for a
rod-weeder purchased by my grandfather for
$388.50. When I moved to Helix in 1993,
Bob Fowler was the proprietor and still
had the best selection of carriage-bolts in
Umatilla County.
Most of the windmills in our area were
either sold through or shipped to local
hardware stores. Flint & Waling, Fairbanks-
Morse, and the ubiquitous Aeromotor were
some of the brands marketed locally and
brought in by rail to long-forgotten sidings
such as Ring Station, Warren and Hillsdale.
We have in our supply a new-in-the-crate
Fairbanks Morse Model 40 mill that was
shipped to the hardware department of
Touchet Valley Grain Growers.
It may appear foolish to some (thankfully,
not including my wife) that I would possess
a “new old stock” windmill, but you never
know when you might have a need for one.
The same can be said for nine ladders, seven
cordless drills, 11 hammers, eight sawhorses,
four large boxes of electrical supplies, six
coffee cans filled with plumbing fittings,
three bolt bins, and a pair of pliers and a
shovel in all seven pickups on the place.
Nearly all of the aforementioned came from
hardware stores and help satisfy my primal
urge to be surrounded by tools.
I see the Powerball jackpot is at $400
M att W ood
FROM THE TRACTOR
million now. If I win, I think I’ll head
back over the mountain — there was a
“Business for Sale” sign in the window of
the combination hardware/auto parts store in
Wallowa.
■
Matt Wood is his son’s hired man and his
daughter’s biggest fan. He lives on a farm
near Helix, where he collects antiques and
friends.
Use TV white space
for rural internet access
S
ince 1913, the Oregon
country. Let’s use it for broadband.
Cattlemen’s Association has
Not only is this technology
been working daily to assist
maturing and available for use, it’s
and represent all cattle producers
also affordable. We do not need to
throughout the state. We work hard
build new infrastructure, we just
to protect our communities and
have to harness a portion of the
assure that our voice is heard in all
spectrum that already touches rural
areas affecting the industry.
communities. A study conducted by
Internet access is one of
Microsoft estimates that using TV
Jerome
those areas, which is why OCA
white space to deliver broadband
Rosa
is proud to have joined a new,
Internet in rural areas would be 80
Comment
national coalition called Connect
percent cheaper than fiber optic
Americans Now, which is
cable, and 50 percent cheaper than
dedicated to closing the digital divide.
LTE wireless technology.
The internet has become as important
The Federal Communications
a tool for a rancher as a horse or
Commission and our leaders in the
rope. Ranchers need real-time market
federal government should support the
information when
development and
making business
deployment of this
decisions, ranging
technology. The sooner
from the price of
our members can take
grain to the price
advantage of affordable
of cattle, to buying
broadband access, the
necessary equipment
sooner their operations,
and accessing key
their families and their
government statistics.
communities can begin
The internet provides
to benefit.
Specifically, the FCC
the quickest and most
should be encouraged
efficient means for
to ensure that three channels below 700
obtaining this information.
This, of course, depends on access to
MHz are available for wireless use on an
broadband technologies. In the rural parts
unlicensed basis in every market in the
of our state where many of our ranches
country. This is what it will take for TV
are located, high speed internet options are
white space technology to succeed.
Agriculture is the lifeblood of numerous
limited or nonexistent, depriving ranchers
small towns and communities across
of important, internet-based technologies.
Oregon and across this country. As such,
Our members also care deeply about their
it is critical that our elected officials
communities and rural patches of our state
support policies that promote healthy,
that are without high speed internet miss
productive agricultural businesses and
out on critical educational tools, global
rural communities as a whole, as well as
information, economic opportunities and
innovative business plans to help achieve
healthcare services.
success.
If this trend continues — with some
America’s ranchers know firsthand
communities developing broadband access
how valuable communications is in the
at a rapid pace, and others continuing
agricultural world. Being online has
to operate without such access — then
supercharged, for example, the sale barns
the rural divide will continue to grow,
— live auctions in which cattle and other
leaving many residents and businesses
livestock are sold to the highest bidder —
at a disadvantage, in many aspects of
that we rely on for our economic survival.
commercial and societal life.
Getting sale barns online has allowed us
Connect Americans Now has an
to expand our reach around the world.
innovative way to bridge the digital
And a slower, unreliable, and immobile
divide. The technology exists to transmit
broadband only holds us back.
broadband through the TV white space
TV white space technology represents
spectrum, using the same type of
a way for our members to stay successful
technology that allowed the old rabbit ear
via increased productivity, they just need
antennas to pick up far off TV signals, but
the means to access that technology. Please
now we can utilize an unused portion of
that telecommunications spectrum to serve join OCA in supporting the development of
TV whitespace as a broadband vehicle.
broadband to rural communities.
■
This TV white space spectrum already
Jerome Rosa is president of the Oregon
exists and reaches 80 percent of the
Cattlmen’s Association.
underserved rural population in this
The internet
has become as
important a tool
for a rancher as a
horse or a rope.