We must have completely different experiences, then. What years and where were you active in the is area? I’ve been visiting for over a decade doing hiking, fishing, spelunking, etc. Every town had tin hatters, but to paint the whole town like that is certainly extreme.

I've never heard anyone express concern about UN helicopters, but at least in Southern Humboldt, there was a huge fear about the state and federal government using helicopters to bust people for growing weed. My uncle had a camera in the kitchen that he or my cousins would grab and pretend to take pictures of low flying aircraft (it was illegal to fly too close and thus any evidence collected would be thrown out by the court). I wouldn't be surprised if less scrupulous people would do something with a deer rifle. PG&E still announces in Lost Coast Outpost when they're inspecting power lines.

I also heard that people at Trinity Pines were shooting at CalFire when they were helping with the fires 8 years ago. Hence the reason why it burned so bad.