Goodbye!
Hundreds of modern-day hippies, who form a community known as “Rainbow Families,” are being forced out of campgrounds in California’s national forests under threat of fines and prison time.
The U.S. Forest Service on Wednesday ordered about 500 unauthorized campers to leave Plumas National Forest within 48 hours or face fines of up to $5,000 and/or up to six months in jail. Following the order to leave.
The California eviction marks the first time that the Living Light Rainbow Family, a loose group of free spirits who gather to camp in a different national forest during the first week of July each year, has been forced to end their annual camping tradition since first gathering in 1972.
The free annual gathering draws between 5,000 and 10,000 people each year.
According to the U.S. Forest Service, the group describes itself as “the largest non-member non-organization in the world” and claims it has no leaders to sign permits on behalf of the group, so organizers are unable to obtain the necessary permits.
The leaderless commune will set up a welcome tent, camping and social areas, parking, medical facilities, and several outdoor kitchens. Members will develop a water source and dig trench latrines to use as toilets.
According to the park service, Rainbow Families has designated different areas of the campground for group get-togethers, party-goers, families with children, women and men.
This summer’s camping events were expected to draw about 10,000 visitors to Plumas National Forest near Quincy in Northern California, but officials say it will put a strain on the area and its natural environment.
About 500 members of Rainbow Families had already set up camp this week in the national forest, in an area near the headwaters of Indian Creek, about five miles north of Antelope Lake.
The U.S. Forest Service ordered the group to leave, citing “protection of natural, tribal and cultural resources, fire danger, public health and maintenance of authorized special uses.”
The order went into effect Wednesday and is being evaluated daily to determine when it can be lifted.
“The Forest Service is concerned that more than 500 people are camping in a dispersed manner in a densely populated area…There are already and anticipated impacts to natural and cultural resources and other permitted uses,” Plumas National Forest Superintendent Chris Carlton said in a statement. “Our priorities are maintaining public health and safety and properly managing our public lands and natural resources.”
According to local reports, local residents were unhappy with the late announcement of the hippie group’s arrival and opposed their staying in town.
Four tribes in the area — the Mountain Maidu, Paiute, Pit River and Washoe — have each sent letters to Rainbow Family asking them to reconsider the campsite. According to SFist.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Lassen County Mayor Jason Ingram has opposed the plan since he learned about it.
“As I have said from the beginning, my concerns about this gathering have always been about illegality,
“This has increased fire risk, increased environmental impacts and shown blatant disrespect for local tribes,” Ingram said. “Events are fine, but events that blatantly disregard the law and endanger fire safety on our lands and in our region are not.”
He celebrated the news that for the first time in more than 50 years, the commune had been forcibly stopped.
“I believe this is the first time a Rainbow Gathering event has had to be canceled, and it’s all your fault,” Ingram said.
