The Rainbow Family of Living Light

It's about time for the annual gathering of anarchists known as the Rainbow Family of Living Light. This time it will in the Modoc National Forest (far NE corner of California) near the site the folks used in 1984. About 20,000 of these type 3 anarchists and other counterculturalists will gather together to be different, disorganized, and most importantly, spiritual. And in the best anarchist traditions, they will organize enough to converge en masse and pray for world peace, while claiming they have no organization, leaders, etc. to apply for the necessary Forest Service permits for their gathering.

The mountains near Modoc will be invaded by upwards of 20,000 people in coming weeks. People from a group known as "The Rainbow Family of Living Light" have started gathering near Bearcamp, a remote mountain area in the Modoc National Forest's Warner Mountain Ranger District between Eagleville and Likely.

The location, which was not announced until late last week, is near the site of the Rainbow's 1984 gathering that was held at Camp One. An estimated 22,000 people of the loosely knit, counter-culture group attended that encampment.

National gatherings have been held annually on Forest Service lands since 1972. Over the past decade, gatherings have drawn between 10,000 and 20,000 people.

This year's gathering officially runs from July 1 to July 7. The expected high-point will be July 4 when people gather in a "Circle of Peace," a silent gathering to pray for world peace.

Upwards of 20,000 people camping on dry forest ground which is ecologically fragile and quite flammable with this winter's inadequate rains in the Great Basin...not a brilliant or very green idea. Let's hope this group brings plenty of potable water, porta-poddies and self-contained hygiene stations, etc., or it will become a nasty mess.

Oh wait, this is anarchists; we have to hope each one brings his/her own. It's evidently not hypocritical for anarchists to organize these huge annual gatherings, but it would be hypocritical if they brought or paid for porta-poddy service, dumpsters, and the like. I guess they can't get in touch with nature without defiling it.

Modoc National Forest and Modoc County area law enforcement personnel have been meeting with Rainbow members since Friday. The group claims it has no leaders and says no member is an official spokesperson. A National Incident Management Team has been used since 1998 to manage Rainbow gatherings, which are held on different national forests. The specific gathering locations are announced only a few weeks before each gathering.

"At this point in time it is an illegal gathering," said Donna Wilson, the incident team's media representative. "We are hoping they will sign a permit and make this a legal gathering."

In 1995 the Forest Service implemented regulations that require group-use permits for noncommercial gatherings of 75 or more people on National Forest lands. Wilson said the regulations serve three purposes: promotion of public health and safety, protection of forest resources, and prevention of conflicts among used on National Forest System lands.

Rainbow members claim the permit requirement violates their First Amendment rights. If no permit is obtained, organizers and participants could be cited for failure to obtain the required permit. Violations have been successfully prosecuted for past gatherings. So far, 17 district courts and five federal courts of appeals have upheld the constitutionality of the Forest Service's noncommercial group use rule.

22 legal rulings all saying the same thing...talk about a waste of the government's legal resources by litigious anarchists. Without organizers, I guess the Forest Service folks will have to fine all of the campers individually. So, how about charging them admission? Take the clean-up, overtime, etc. money up-front. If the visitors try to trespass, fine them more to cover the court costs, any jail time, etc.

This should be a fee-based event, regards if it supposedly lacks organization. In fact, having the government organize facets of the event for them seems like a fitting way to frustrate anarchists and make it more undesirable for them to choose NE California for similar events in the future.

Anarchy plus bureaucracy equals libertarians?

The gatherings create concerns because of impacts on small towns and resulting resource damage. This year the gathering will be near Likely, Eagleville and Alturas. Although the 1984 gathering went mostly without incident, some people say it took three years for water quality and other resource damage to be corrected.

In recent years, county and state governments have attempted to bill the Rainbow Family for resulting costs for law enforcement, hospital, garbage and other costs.

Ongoing concerns resulted in use of National Incident Management Teams, which include an incident commander and support staff, natural resource specialists and advisors, and about 40 law enforcement officers, including K-9, mounted police and patrol officers from the Forest Service, California Highway Patrol, Modoc County Sheriff's Department and California Department of Fish and Game.

"We're hoping we can take some of the pressure off the people on the (Modoc) Forest so they can do their jobs," Wilson said.

Wilson said the loose structure, and uncertainties about the number of attendees, complicates management.

That's why the government response needs to be so organized that it repels the anarchists.

Many of these folks are just pretenders looking for togetherness amongst a bunch of other folks who feel like outsiders. It's somewhat like hippies in the '60s...folks wanted to be different, just like the rest of the folks being different. The Rainbow Family campers spend a few days boosting their self-confidence, then go back to being leftists without a cause.

"Anyone is welcome to come and that's what makes it so difficult to manage because you get all kinds of people," Wilson said. "There's always a concern when you are looking an at 'incident city' of 10,000 to 20,000 people." Heading the incident team is U.S. Special Agent Tim Lynn. Modoc Supervisor Stanley Sylva said the Modoc is "extremely fortunate" to be working with Lynn, who is assigned to the Washington Office Enforcement and Liaison staff and has handled Forest Service law enforcement and investigations for five years. Lynn also served seven years with the U.S. Secret Service in Washington, D.C. and three years with the U.S. Navy Seabees assigned to Camp David.

Lynn and others were meeting with law enforcement officials, including the Modoc County Sheriff's Department, at the site this morning.

Alturas Police Department Lt. Sid Cullins said the city has not yet finalized specific plans, but predicted increased patrols.

"I'm sure we're going to be busier," Cullins said.

Well, SA Lynn sure sounds elite...sad that it takes an elite security type to manage a bunch of anarchists. It's rather curious that a Seabee (a Navy combat engineer) was assigned to Camp David. Maybe he was in charge of the various fences, barriers, berms, minefields, and the like (Seabees do demolition, but I have no idea if Camp David has minefields).

There's a strange irony in the fact that by causing the government to react to them, anarchists actually increase the size and reach of government. Of course when one examines anarchy theory, there are a lot of oxymorons readily available.

I share their goal of world peace. I wish they were contributing something towards that goal.

Comments

[Normal T.]

I am from the Jesus Triibe..... groups.msn.com/JesusCamp---RainbowFamilyofLight All are welcomed, I am also looking for a Help Mate..go to the above group site to learn more about us....Love you Guys....The Happie Hippie, Normal T.

[K. Martin]

Dear Rogue,
So... am I correct in surmising that you think only you and people like-minded to you should be free? Why persecute others, verbally or otherwise? (The answer to that, of course is ignorance and fear).
What would Jesus say? My guess is that He might remind us of the story of Saul of Tarsus. How about you bringing yourself to a gathering with a smile on your face and love in your heart? Not likely, I realize, but there you might find another view to your hard-held, partly-researched position. But hey, why change if you're having fun, right? Because you haven't yet answered the key question: What are you afraid of? The answer of course is for you alone, but it would be a worthwhile search for you, I believe.
You said, "I guess they can't get in touch with nature without defiling it." Can you? Or do you have a row of hunting trophies on your wall as a point of pride?
As for world peace, it starts at home, right in your own heart. Begin today. With love and hope for your success, K.Martin (A straight-laced grandmother who cherishes freedom and peace).

[RoguePundit]

Dear straight-laced grandmother, if you were a regular reader of this blog, you'd know how laughably off base your assumptions about me are.

Evidently, it's easier for you to persecute me than it is to address your own issues.

[Llama]

Been attending Rainbow Family of Living Light gatherings for ten years and have not witnessed this destruction of the natural land as you have suggested. In fact the Modoc Natl. Forest District Ranger Ascrow gave us an A+ for our clean up efforts after the 2004 Gathering. Presently i am a crimology student at the University of Montana and am writing a research paper about the Rainbow Gatherings, if anyone wishes to contact me at doniellama@yahoo.com about their experiences concerning the Rainbows.

[Plague]

Hey I was woundering if anybody knows about next years national gathering. If anybody knows anything bout it email me