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NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
Saturday, June 17, 2017
20,000 ‘free spirits’ are flocking to Eastern Oregon
By AMANDA PEACHER
Oregon Public Broadcasting
In two weeks, thousands
of peace-loving, free-spirited
campers
will
descend
on Oregon for the 2017
Rainbow Gathering in the
Malheur National Forest.
The annual summer event
attracts hippie types and
wanderers from across the
nation.
Rainbow
members
announced Thursday on
social media that the July 1–7
gathering will be in a large
field at Flagtail Creek, about
20 miles northwest of the
tiny town of Seneca, Oregon,
off Highway 395.
Forest Service officials
are preparing for upwards
of 20,000 attendees to flock
to the meadow. The agency
is expecting more than the
10,000 typical Rainbow
attendees, given that this
year’s gathering is situated
in a left-leaning state where
counterculture is nothing
new.
Officials say the Rainbow
Gathering will be an added
stressor for land managers
already taxed with preparing
for the total solar eclipse
in August, which is also
expected to attract tens of
thousands of campers to
national forests.
Rainbow
Family
members often refer to
themselves as the largest
“non-organization”
in
the world. They espouse
non-violence and sustainable
living and peace, love and
acceptance. They make
decisions by consensus and
emphasize that there are no
leaders.
“Everybody welcomes
you home, every person you
pass says, ‘Welcome home,’”
said 21-year old Hannah
Cameron, a traveling artist
from Portland. “Everyone
there is family.”
This will be Cameron’s
second Rainbow Gathering.
She said her first, two years
ago, was “transformative.”
“I never felt fulfilled. I
didn’t know what I wanted
to do with my life until I got
there,” Cameron said. “I saw
so many capable people build
a fully functioning society in
the middle of the woods for
two weeks and be happy.”
AP Photo/Wilson Ring
In this June 2016 photo, a member of the Rainbow
Family of Living Light, who goes by the name of Joe,
splits wood at his campsite in Mount Tabor, Vt.
AP Photo/Wilson Ring
In this June 2016 photo, members of the Rainbow Family of Living Light gather
under a tarp at their campsite in Mount Tabor, Vt.
Malheur National Forest
braces for crowds
The Forest Service requires
groups of 75 or more to obtain
a special-use permit to camp
on public lands, but the
Rainbow members dodge that
requirement by emphasizing
there are no official leaders
and no official organization to
their group. They assert their
right to assemble on public
lands is constitutionally
protected.
“The potential for resource
impact is huge,” said Ryan
Nehl, deputy forest supervisor
for the Malheur National
Forest. “While we’ll take steps
to mitigate resource damage,
we know that the opportunity
for damage is high.”
The Rainbow Gathering
started in 1972 and the event
has a long history with the
Forest Service.
Years ago, the agency
recognized the futility of
trying to prevent the gathering
from happening altogether.
It’s not like land managers can
put up roadblocks to prevent
people from camping — not
to mention that such blocks
might lead to confrontations
and possible claims of First
Amendment infringements.
So, the Forest Service
takes a “damage control”
approach, according to Nehl.
As Rainbow Family
members met near John Day
recently during a pre-gathering
known as “spring council,”
Forest Service officials were
there.
Nehl sat in on those
meetings
to
provide
information
about
the
possible sites discussed for
the gathering. He said the
Rainbow community is eager
to protect forests, habitat and
water resources.
“The folks at the gathering
are very interested in
knowing where resources
are so that they can avoid
them,” said Nehl. “Such as
archaeological sites that are
culturally sensitive to tribes,
as well as areas where they
have Endangered Species
Act sensitive fish, and any
sensitive plants or other
features on the landscape.”
Now that the group has
settled on a site for the event,
the Forest Service will quickly
draw up an “operating plan”
to try and protect the area as
throngs of people arrive.
Natural resource advisers
mark off areas containing
sensitive plant or wildlife
species to avoid and highlight
areas for camping and
waste latrines. They give
instructions for how to access
drinking water, use firewood
and safely manage campfires.
For all the cooperation,
the agency is by no means
sanctioning the gathering, said
Nehl. The Forest Service is
simply trying to be proactive.
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“We’re not authorizing this
event,” said Nehl. “But we
know it’s coming. It would
be foolish not to prepare and
defend our resources as best
we can.”
Each year, the agency
deploys a special team
out of Washington D.C. to
wherever the gathering takes
place. Similar to the incident
management teams that
handle wildfires, it includes
logistics, planning and finance
personnel — as well as 30 to
40 law enforcement officers.
The Forest Service spends
about $500,000 on law
enforcement and management
during the gathering each year.
That money is appropriated
from the Washington D.C
office specifically for the
annual Rainbow event.
Attendees emphasize their
love for nature and point to
efforts to mitigate the impacts
of thousands of people.
“There’s not a lot of people
who live in the woods for two
weeks and poop in a trench
who aren’t willing to abide by
certain rules,” said Cameron,
the Portland artist. “All the
trash is picked up. We walk
in certain paths so we’re not
trampling the wildflowers.”
After the crowds leave, a
small crew stays behind to try
and rehabilitate the site, and
some will return the following
year to further mitigate
impacts.
For many, Rainbow
is a calling home
Rainbow
Gatherings
typically
include
drum
circles and music, dancing,
fire-spinning, yoga classes,
costumes and more. There
are no clocks and electronics
are discouraged. There’s also
no commerce of any kind, but
if participants want to chip
in for food from communal
kitchens, each night they pass
a “magic hat” for donations.
Alcohol is frowned upon,
but drugs tend to flow freely
at the events.
For many in the self-
described “family,” the annual
gathering is a place to escape
regular society, be creative
and feel completely accepted.
Some attendees have typical
nine-to-five jobs or go to
school. Others are full-time
vagabonds. For some, the
gathering is the one place
where they feel comfortable
and loved.
Stevie Silver is a DJ who
is currently en route to the
gathering, pedaling her way
by bike or hitching rides from
Los Angeles. She said she’s
been living in a tent for the
past two months there. She
said Rainbow is her only
family.
“I need their hugs. I need
their family. I need their
connection,” said Silver.
“My real family is a tattered
and torn thing. It’s full of
judgment.”
Silver said she doesn’t
mind having the Forest
Service’s watchful eye over
the gathering.
“I love them! They’re
great,” she said. “I collect
stickers from them and hugs
and pictures.
“They take time and they
show us what’s going on,” she
said, referring to how Forest
Service officials explained
delicate natural resources
to attendees at a previous
gathering.
Silver disputes the idea
that the gathering could hurt
public lands.
“People go three, four
months later, finding sprouts
from seedlings that have come
up from where people spit
out seeds, and they remove
them,” she said.
But in a crowd of
thousands of people — even
thousands of people calling
for love, peace and acceptance
— there’s still potential for
conflict.
At the Rainbow Gathering
in Vermont last year, the
Forest Service issued about
200 citations for offenses like
drug use, assault and traffic
violations.
Just recently in Oregon
during the pre-gathering this
year in Grant County, a man
who was allegedly using LSD
stabbed a 23-year-old woman.
The Grant County Sheriff’s
office said Noah Destefano
was taken into custody and
charged with first-degree
assault June 10 for injuring
the woman.
Cameron said there will
always be a few people
who act inappropriately in
a crowd of so many. But
most Rainbow members are
harmless, she said.
She’s thrilled to have the
gathering in her home state
this year.
“It’s awesome. I know
these forests,” said Cameron.
“But honestly, wherever the
gathering was, I would go.”