Northern Californians are concerned that an unauthorized gathering of thousands of people at an annual event on national forest land will have severe implications on local communities and public lands.
The Rainbow Family Gathering is a week-long outdoor gathering put on by the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a loose-knit group of people who describe themselves as having no leaders or organization. An unofficial website says the group gathers each year in national forests to “pray for peace on this planet.”
The group meets in a new location every year, usually announcing the location shortly before the gathering takes place. This year, the gathering was announced to be set in the Plumas National Forest near Susanville, CA, over the first week of July, coinciding with the Fourth of July holiday. Up to 10,000 participants were expected to attend the gathering on about 900 acres.
On June 26, shortly before WLJ press time, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) issued an order prohibiting anyone from being in the Plumas National Forest Indian Creek Headwaters Area and an order closing the road on the Mount Hough Ranger District. Individuals who fail to leave the area within 48 hours can face up to $5,000 in fines or up to six months in jail. This appears to be the first time the Rainbow Family Gathering has been ordered to end their gathering.
Special use permits for noncommercial group use are required on national forest land for any event with more than 75 people. The Rainbow Family failed to obtain a permit for the event—citing no single representative who can sign a permit on the group’s behalf—making the gathering an unauthorized use of forest land.
“There are existing and projected impacts on natural and cultural resources and other authorized uses,” said Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton in the order. “Our priority is maintaining public health and safety and the appropriate stewardship of public lands and natural resources.”
Community backlash
Community members, law enforcement officials, USFS and local Tribes denounced the gathering, concerned about the possibility of damage to an already-frail environment still recovering from the catastrophic 2021 Dixie Fire that burned nearly 1 million acres in Northern California.
The Plumas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release, “The diverse group of participants often includes individuals who engage in illegal or socially unacceptable behavior, such as public nudity, civil disobedience, drug and alcohol abuse, and confrontations with locals.”
USFS issued two road closure orders ahead of the final order to minimize impacts to natural resources and avoid traffic congestion.
Local Tribes expressed their opposition to the gathering, penning a letter to the supervisors of the Lassen and Plumas national forests. The Maidu Summit Consortium, Tsi-Akim Maidu, United Maidu Nation, Big Meadows Historical Preservation, Maidu Cultural Development Group, Roundhouse Council, Greenville Rancheria and Susanville Indian Rancheria wrote, “As the traditional stewards of these lands, we have a sacred responsibility to protect and preserve our cultural sites, sensitive areas, and gathering spots for future generations.”
The Tribes urged USFS to reject the gathering and find alternative sites outside of their homelands. If USFS failed to comply with their requests, the Tribes intended to pursue legal action.
Grazing permittee impacts
A local rancher who grazes cattle on USFS allotments in the affected area expressed his frustration to WLJ with the gathering and lack of legal enforcement around it.
After Rainbow Family members began diverting water from the creek headwaters, the rancher organized with USFS to address the issue with the attendees. Once he arrived at the site, he was told by law enforcement that they couldn’t take sides and wouldn’t help him confront the attendees.
Upon a Sunday visit to the site with Lassen County District 5 Supervisor Jason Ingram, a strong critic of the gathering, several attendees blocked them in on the road with large vehicles. Ingram and the rancher were able to safely leave the site, but Ingram later posted on social media that attendees swarmed the vehicle and appeared to be holding knives and reaching toward their waistbands.
Typically, the rancher would be pushing cattle on the allotments during the Fourth of July holiday. “We’ve made some requests of Forest Service for some vacant allotments or somewhere to get our cattle out of there,” he told WLJ on June 23. “I’m kind of waiting to see if they are able to shut this thing down, and if they’re not by midweek, we are just going to have to try to get cattle out of there.”
He added, “There’s just no way to have cattle in that area with that many people up there.”
A local logger who shares an allotment line with the rancher also had his property disrupted by the gathering, with attendees removing markers and signs, and parking throughout the area.
In addition to the allotment disruptions, Ingram noted to WLJ the adverse impacts the gathering has placed on surrounding communities. He shared incidences of Rainbow Family members harassing store owners and patrons for free food and drinks, along with shoplifting from local grocery stores.
“They’re causing havoc everywhere,” Ingram said, noting the event hadn’t even officially started yet.
During a USFS virtual meeting held the evening of June 25, when asked by WLJ what mitigation tactics were planned to reduce impacts to livestock grazing permittees in the area, Carlton responded they had been working to coordinate options to mitigate impacts.
“The reality is this is an unauthorized incident, and we did not have a lot of time to plan and we’re trying to find a way to respond as best we can,” Carlton said. “We absolutely want to make sure we are prioritizing those valid existing uses of public lands.”
USFS response
During the virtual meeting, USFS staff and officials addressed concerns with the gathering. When unauthorized incidents occur, the agency will bring in an incident management team to respond.
Carlton stressed that the agency can only respond to the Rainbow Family’s gatherings once they occur each year since the location is always announced with short notice. When asked by a meeting participant why USFS hasn’t found a solution for addressing these annual gatherings that have occurred for decades, Coda Witt, USFS incident commander, responded it’s difficult to have a set plan in place when the events occur at different locations that have different resources.
As of the virtual meeting on Tuesday evening, there were about 515 people already at the location, with more than 130 vehicles, six buses and close to 40 RVs parked. Attendees were building infrastructure in the area, which includes latrines, compost pits, oven and cooking sites and gray water pits, and using water lines from Indian Creek.
Carlton noted that wildfires this time of year are a big concern, and that the agency brings in additional resources to augment its response to wildfire. The forest entered Stage I fire restrictions on June 24, about six weeks sooner than last year.
Witt stressed there is a zero-tolerance policy for any fire restriction violators. Campfires may only occur in designated recreation areas and smoking is only allowed in enclosed buildings or vehicles. Witt said there were already “lots of incident reports and warnings” as of Tuesday, with at least two arrests made. More than 60 law enforcement officers were on shift to enforce violations and fines.
Brian Heeringa, lead resource advisor for the incident management team, said initial walk-throughs and drive-throughs the camping areas showed vegetation trampled and crushed by people and vehicles. With many cultural and replanting sites in the area, the team began marking the areas off and advising attendees to avoid the areas.
In addition to marking off sensitive areas, the team of resource advisers began water testing to monitor any impacts on the Indian Creek. Heeringa emphasized that water was not being tested to ensure it’s safe for drinking but to record any harmful impacts as a result of the gathering.
USFS will continue to post updates on the gathering at tinyurl.com/4xm2du5v.
“I recognize this is controversial—this is not something any of us have asked for,” Carlton said in his closing meeting remarks. He added, “Saying we are responding doesn’t necessarily feel tangible to some people,” but he emphasized the agency’s past experience dealing with incident response. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
