A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Voices of
frustration, and
fear, at the Capitol
T
housands of Ore-
gonians gathered
in front of the state
Capitol in late June to
protest climate change bills
that wouldn’t help the cli-
mate but would significant-
ly raise the cost of gasoline,
diesel fuel, electricity and
natural gas in addition to
threatening rural jobs.
The only thing House
Bill 2020 offered was the
promise of “green” jobs
and the fact that it wouldn’t
really impact the climate.
Even proponents have said
it would have impacted
only about 0.12% of global
greenhouse gases.
What the protesters said
was from the heart, born of
frustration and fear for them-
selves and their families
and a realization that, in the
large scheme of politics in
Oregon, they barely matter.
Portland has the votes, so
who cares about Pendleton
or Tillamook or John Day?
The voices were as clear
as they were heartfelt.
“We’ve got climate prob-
lems to deal with, obvi-
ously,” 19-year-old Mary
Hewitt told EO Media
Group reporter Sierra Dawn
McClain. Hewitt comes
from a family of truckers,
fishermen and other work-
ing-class people. “So many
of my peers have come out
supporting these bills. They
think they’re fighting for
the environment, and I get
it. But this is not the way to
help the earth. Ride a bike to
work. Walk more. Recycle.
But don’t crush me and my
family. We’re people, too.”
Ellie Hilger, 30, of Tilla-
mook also took part in the
protest.
“Tillamook is not just a
tourist destination,” Hilger
said. “We work the land
and take care of it. I come
from a logging family. My
dad runs a hay farm. This
bill will destroy Tillamook
industries.”
“Crush” and “destroy”
are not words demonstrat-
ing confidence in the Legis-
lature. These folks — log-
gers, farmers, truckers and
ranchers — have been the
targets of Oregon environ-
mental activists for decades.
The activists have crippled
the timber industry, once a
mainstay of the state’s econ-
omy. They have attacked
ranchers — note the shame-
ful attack on Dwight and
Steven Hammond that con-
tinues in a Portland court-
room. Good Lord, haven’t
they been through enough?
Now, even after they were
pardoned by President Don-
ald Trump, the environmen-
tal attack dogs continue.
And note the bills con-
stantly introduced in the
legislature attacking log-
gers, farmers and ranchers
— the people who provide
the state’s food, fiber and
shelter.
It’s as though rural Ore-
gonians — even the ones
whose families braved the
Oregon Trail to build a life
here — are an endangered
species. They feel that polit-
ical “leaders” such as Gov.
Kate Brown have not only
abandoned them but are
actively working against
their interests.
We often hear chatter
about healing the urban-rural
divide. Yet some politicians
appear to use it and try their
best to widen the gap that
divides Oregonians. As an
example, where was Brown
when last week’s protest
took place? Where were the
others, who still insist HB
2020 was misunderstood?
This was a chance for
them to talk with the protest-
ers, to gain an understanding
of their concerns, to show
empathy and to tell them
they fully understand and
promise to prevent any leg-
islation that would hurt rural
Oregon. This was a chance
to start building a bridge, yet
they didn’t show up.
HB 2020, the cap-and-
trade climate bill, died in the
Legislature during the wan-
ing days of the session. But
another bill, HB 2007, which
will require heavy equip-
ment and trucks in the three
counties around Portland to
have expensive new diesel
engines, passed. This will
have the potential of increas-
ing the cost of doing busi-
ness in the state.
Proponents, including
Brown, promise to keep
pushing cap-and-trade bills
in the future. No doubt they
will, and in the process
they will continue to drive
a wedge between urban and
rural Oregon, which would
pay a disproportionately
high price for an immeasur-
ably small impact on climate
change.
What also won’t die is the
distrust and damage Brown
and others would inflict on
Oregon, its people and its
economy.
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
SHOOTING THE BREEZE
Wood vs. synthetic
s a young kid growing
up in Grant and Wheeler
counties, I saw lots of
different guns. It seemed every-
one in our communities went
out each fall to
go big game
hunting. Nearly
everyone in our
immediate cir-
cle carried a
standard caliber,
wooden-stocked Dale Valade
hunting rifle.
The first synthetic stock I ever
saw was on Bob Hansen’s .338
Win Mag. What a spectacu-
lar rifle! It was a lefty Brown-
ing A-Bolt, stainless steel with a
BOSS muzzle brake on the end.
Besides keeping me in a steady
supply of Snickers minis and
hunting/shooting periodicals,
Bob was a great friend of the
family. What I remember most
about that rifle was it’s biblical
concussion due to the brake.
Today plastic and fiberglass
stocks have really caught on,
and in some hunting camps the
wooden stock is now the odd
one out. While you could flip
a coin to decide which may be
best, let’s go over the pros and
cons of each design.
Wooden stocks have been
around since forever. Besides
being sturdy, they are truly
beautiful. They can require a
lot of work to fit and finish, but
nevertheless provide a classic,
A
timeless aesthetic to any hunt-
ing rifle so adorned. Scratches
and dings require a refinish
of the entire surface to extri-
cate. Wood being organic is
porous and therefore suscepti-
ble to changes in temperature
and humidity. In extreme cli-
mates or continued exposure to
wet conditions you can count
on your prized wooden stock
to warp. A warped stock will
not shoot straight in addition
to quickly reverting to a cos-
metic state resembling drift-
wood. Still if proper care is
taken to keep your stock sealed,
especially in the action and bar-
rel channel areas, the problems
associated with warping are
largely mitigated.
A sort of happy medium
between dense hardwood and
Tupperware is the laminate
stock. These are made by epoxy
gluing plies of wood together
and then forming a stock from
the resultant mass. They come
in anything from plain Jane
patterns to wacky neon colors.
Having the aesthetic appeal of
wood and the ruggedness of
synthetic, these stocks are truly
a great compromise.
Synthetic stocks really never
caught on until the 1980s where
their design advantages began to
appeal to some, especially those
in extreme temperatures and cli-
mates. They can range in mate-
rials from plastic to rubber to
fiberglass. Synthetics will not
warp in extreme heat or mois-
ture, and where weight is an
issue with walnut stocks (back-
pack sheep hunting, for exam-
ple), the synthetic is usually
much lighter to carry. Light-
weight rifles in heavy calibers
produce severe recoil necessi-
tating a muzzle brake to tame.
Synthetics can be had in any
color or texture. They’re even
making them in wood grain
these days. Recently chas-
sis-style stocks have caught on,
although I find them about as
attractive as a handyman jack
personally.
From my comparison, one
might gather that the synthetic
is the winner hands down. Per-
haps, if function is truly the ulti-
mate trump card in your deck.
Although only then by a slim
margin. To paraphrase Frank
Jankunis, a gunsmith I knew for
years, “Don’t buy ugly guns,
because you’ll spend more
time looking at them than any-
thing else.” I think beauty here
is in the eye of the beholder, but
practically speaking, there is
room for both designs.
So which way do you vote?
Wood or synthetic? Write in to
shootingthebreezebme@gmail.
com!
Dale Valade is a local coun-
try gent with a deep love for
handloading, hunting and
shooting.
Contributed photo
Wood, laminate and synthetic stocks have different aesthetic and functional characteristics.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Monument’s fireworks
Inhumane detention
well done
camps should end
To the Editor:
Jeremy Boyer does it again — even better than
last year! Our guests from Bend and Portland said
Monument did a much better job than either of their
towns. The fireworks show flowed, not just individu-
ally fired off. Well done!
Tiina Allas
Prineville
To the Editor:
I am joining thousands around the world on July
12 for a Lights for Liberty candlelight vigil to end
inhumane detention camps.
Please join us at the corner of highways 395 and
26 at 7 p.m.
Sandy Murray
Prairie City
L
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