Feds to Rainbows: Move gathering

I don't know from which star cluster you are receiving your transmissions, but you need to adjust your antenna. First there's no one guy who always signs the permit. There is, at the very least, a large minority in the Family who believe that having a safe Gathering is more important than having a Stay the Course, We Don't Need NO Stinkin' Permit, Traditional Fundamentalist Civil Disobedience Cop Fight. Second, there there is no government appointed move. There were a few individuals who presented convincing moral and ethical arguments that not tangling with a bunch of 12 year olds was the right thing to do. Third, asking who led the move is as much a non sequitur as asking who led the move to Big Sandy.

 

well,,it seems we scared the boy scouts away..

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/06/24/news/wyoming/doc4860f76bb014d334583272.txt

LANDER -- Since Rainbow Family participants have chosen to stay put at Big Sandy in Wyoming's Wind River Mountains, leaders with the Boy Scouts of America have decided to alter plans for a major service project that had been scheduled to take place in the same general area.

Leaders with the Boy Scouts' Order of the Arrow have decided to cancel a long-planned forest restoration project near Dutch Joe Guard Station in the Wind Rivers, said Mary Cernicek, spokeswoman with the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

The U.S. Forest Service was scrambling Monday to come up with a similar project in a different location in the Bridger-Teton, to serve as a substitute for the Scouts when they come July 26 through Aug. 2.

''We're heartbroken, but we're committed to giving the Boy Scouts a good experience and providing them with the education and leadership skills they're seeking,'' Cernicek said.
About 1,000 Scouts from throughout the United States are scheduled to come to the Cowboy State in the latter half of July as part of a five-week project in five different national forests -- the largest national service project for the Boy Scouts since World War II, according to Ed Stewart, spokesman Boy Scouts of America in Dallas.

The Order of the Arrow, which is the Boy Scouts' national honor society, anticipates 5,000 or so participants will provide more than a combined 250,000 hours of service this summer helping to restore portions of national forests in Missouri, Utah, Virginia, California and Wyoming, according Stewart.

''The Scouts have been committed for a long time with this particular project,'' Stewart said. ''Hundreds of these Scouts are raring to go. They're on their way to Virginia now, and that'll be forest number three. These are teenagers who can answer, 'What did you do this summer?' with the response that they went to five locations throughout the country and helped restore some national (forests).''

Representatives of the Bridger-Teton and the Scouts were scheduled to meet via teleconference late Monday to discuss their options, Cernicek said before the meeting.

''They'll still be doing a project in the Bridger-Teton, just not at Dutch Joe,'' she said. ''There will still be about 1,000 Scouts -- 700 on Teton Pass, and 150 at Goosewing Guard Station near the Gros Ventre Wilderness boundary.''

The Scouts will construct about 8,000 feet of trail on Teton Pass, and will remove a 10-foot-high exclusion fence at Goosewing. They had planned to remove about a quarter mile of wooden and sheep wire fence near Dutch Joe Guard Station, as well.

The Rainbow Family has chosen that same general area for its annual national Rainbow Gathering of Living Light, a counterculture celebration of peace, love and a gentle existence.

Last week Mark Rey, the federal undersecretary who oversees the U.S. Forest Service, came to Pinedale from Washington, D.C., to meet with Rainbow Family participants and urge them to move their gathering to a different location so it wouldn't conflict with the Boy Scouts' project.

Although the Rainbow event reaches its peak attendance July 4, and a mass exodus generally ensues the following day, all parties have agreed that a Rainbow cleanup crew will still be hard at work by the time the Boy Scouts are scheduled to begin their project at the end of July.

The Rainbows who were already on site conferred about Rey's request, but decided it was already too late to shut down and clean up the Dutch Joe area, and choose another location to then reconstruct kitchens, latrines and water supplies before a potential 25,000 people arrived.

Whose fault?

Sue Bradford of Missoula, Mont., who has been attending Rainbow gatherings since 1992, said Rainbow participants notified the Forest Service of the location they'd decided on, and were not told it was a ''bad'' location until several days later, after it was already too late.

''I would hate to see the Boy Scouts have to move, but at this stage in the game the gathering starts to take on a life of its own,'' Bradford said. ''I used to be an Explorer Scout and a Girl Scout. A lot of people at the gathering were Boy Scouts. I think a lot of people there would have shared these concerns, if only they'd known sooner.''

There are already an estimated 1,100 campers set up in the area, and by the time the federal agency notified the Rainbow Family of the conflict, the group had already laid a mile of water pipe, she said. To start over would set the effort back at least 10 days, and the new site would be ill-prepared to handle the impacts of the sudden 10,000 to 20,000 participants expected just before July 4.

''I would expect that probably a majority of people out there would not have wanted to dislocate the Boy Scouts,'' she said.

Garrick Beck of Santa Fe, N.M., who has attended almost all of the Rainbow gatherings since 1972, took part in several conference calls among the Forest Service, the Boy Scouts of America and the Rainbows during the past week, he said.

He said he's one of many Rainbow participants who were in favor of changing the location once they heard of the Boy Scout conflict, but he wasn't on site when the decision was made to stay.

''It's a mess, and it's unfortunate, and there's plenty of blame to go around,'' Beck said. ''But this never would have happened, or could have happened, if the Forest Service at the very beginning had said, 'No, this is not a workable site.'"

It wasn't until after more than 200 people had gathered at the site and begun digging in kitchens and other infrastructure that the Forest Service told them, "This is a real problem,'' he said.

Rainbow participants had three or four meetings with Forest Service representatives after choosing the Big Sandy site, before the officials said anything about the Boy Scout conflict, he said.

''We never would have gotten in that position if the Forest Service had indicated from the get-go that this was not a workable site,'' Beck said.

But District Ranger Tom Peters, the local official who has been attempting to work with the gathering participants, said the Rainbows' claims of ignorance about the Boy Scout conflict are not representative of what actually happened in the lead-up to their choice of location.

''The first time I was given an opportunity to talk to them wasn't all that long ago, and from the get-go I told them there was a conflict with the Scouts,'' Peters said.

The first time Peters heard that the Rainbows had chosen the Big Sandy area was June 5, he said, when about six Rainbow participants came to his office unannounced. During that first meeting he told them there was a conflict with Scouts, he said, ''And I committed to giving them a written document for all the reasons Big Sandy was not a good site, which I did Monday the 9th of June.''

The Forest Service provided the Rainbow participants -- at the Rainbows' request -- with four sites that would have been suitable for the event at the end of March, Peters said, and his understanding was that they'd chose from among the four sites.

The Rainbow Family instead chose Big Sandy, which was not on the list, he said.

 

bad, bad press...

http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/06/24/editorial/editorial/8b6e302975746f8c872574710072be73.txt

Rainbow Family should show respect for others


Tuesday, June 24, 2008 7:06 AM MDT

Star-Tribune Editorial Board

Give the U.S. Forest Service credit for trying to work with the Rainbow Family on a site for the group's gathering in the Bridger-Teton National Forest next month. But the federal agency would probably have better luck herding cats than reaching a workable agreement with a group that has no official leaders.

Every summer, the Rainbow Family of Living Light assembles on public lands somewhere in the United States, sometimes drawing as many as 25,000 participants. Members gather to promote peace, play music, dance and trade crafts, but varying degrees of nudity and drug use are also always part of the event.

In an unprecedented move, the Forest Service this year tried to cooperate with this group, whose members are often described as "free spirits." The agency identified four possible sites in the Bridger-Teton for the gathering, but the Rainbow Family instead decided to gather at a different location near Big Sandy in Sublette County.

That's unfortunate, because it creates a problem for the Boy Scouts, who were scheduled to begin a large service project in the area at the same time the Rainbow Family will be cleaning up. The Boy Scouts -- who did everything they could to work with the Forest Service -- may now have to alter their plans, as it appears the Rainbow Family won't give up the site. That's not fair. The situation could have easily been avoided if the group had cooperated with the feds.

Members of the Rainbow Family who met USDA Undersecretary Mark Rey last week said it's too late to move elsewhere, as up to 1,000 family members have already started setting up near Big Sandy.

The Rainbow Family has been staging these gatherings since 1972, so its members should realize that one doesn't suddenly drop thousands of people into an area without it having an impact.

It's true that the Rainbow Family has a good reputation of doing everything it can to return the land to its natural state. The group met near Big Piney in 1994 and overwhelmed local services, but came and went without any major problems.

But this year the Forest Service tried to help the group select a site where it would do the least damage, and that effort was ignored. For people who talk about peace and treating others with respect, the group collectively doesn't show much respect for other users of the public land who follow the federal rules, like the Boy Scouts.

The Rainbow Family also should be cognizant of the fact that while its real members may be peaceful, its gatherings also attract people who are intent on causing trouble. It's no wonder that some Sublette County residents have already reported feeling threatened by people who are setting up camp.

If the group ever wants to be welcomed again by people in Wyoming, it should demonstrate some good will by agreeing to cooperate with the Forest Service on site selection. And if talks don't go well, federal officials should let local authorities know as soon as possible what to expect.

 

after rereading those articles,(the second one is a fucking nail in the coffin),i would watch out for redneck locals coming and going from the gathering site if i was yall folks..

hippies running the "all american" boy scouts off aint gonna set well with "im proud to be an american",redneck local yocal from them parts..


you know the locals will be giving the forest service hell for "allowing the family to ruin the boyscouts plans"...

somethin tells me the LEO's are going to be in REALLY bad moods from here on out as well.

DISCLAIMER: dont jump my shit for the way im wording things,,im just reading the articles and guessing the mindset of the locals after reading them and responding the way i think they are going to feel..

those are not my thoughts except tos say, thats how i think the locals will react..

 

wow,, even more bad press.. jesus..

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/.../wyoming/9122439b2363862d8725747000009204.txt

'A bad apple'

By CHRIS MERRILL
Star-Tribune environment reporter


PINEDALE -- Members of the Rainbow Family of Living Light have only begun to assemble near Big Sandy, but a local woman says she and her family have already been threatened by a participant in the get-together.

Bonnie Whitley, a Boulder-area resident and a grandmother, expressed dismay and anger at a meeting here last week. The meeting drew about 80 people including area residents, U.S. Forest Service representatives and more than 20 Rainbow participants.

Whitley said she, her husband, children and grandchildren had been threatened by a camper at the gathering on their way to a picnic Thursday afternoon as they were riding their ATVs on a Forest Service road about five miles north of Dutch Joe, where the Rainbow gathering is taking place.

"We were going to have a picnic with the little kids," Whitley said in an interview during the meeting. "This fella came running out of the trees and said, 'I want you to know we're having a Rainbow gathering up ahead, and you need to turn around.' He kept asking my husband, 'Are you looking for trouble? You're going to have trouble if you try to go down there. Are you looking for trouble?"'
She said the man was behaving aggressively, and she and her family turned around and left to protect her two grandchildren, Joe and Jonathan.

"I never felt so threatened in my life," Whitley said.

When she spoke during the meeting, all of the Rainbow gathering participants present expressed their sympathies for Whitley and said they would help her identify and report the man, if she desired.

The gathering participants said the threatening man's behavior runs contrary to all of the central tenets of the Rainbow philosophy, which include making peace, living cooperatively and loving fellow human beings.

"We don't want threatening people here," one Rainbow participant said. "Our children are here, too."

Another Rainbow participant, who identified herself only as Dia, said, "We know that everywhere we go, sometimes the wrong people follow."

Rainbow Family member "Owl" Kopelman asked that Whitley not judge the rest of the Rainbows by the behavior of one "bad apple."

 

and EVEN MORE BAD PRESS.. wow..this ones a doozie...
http://www.trib.com/articles/2008/06/22/news/wyoming/29d10cdf99ab76748725746f0070e90c.txt

Sublette official blasts feds


By CHRIS MERRILL
Star-Tribune environment reporter Sunday, June 22, 2008 1:04 AM MDT

PINEDALE -- A high-ranking federal official has dropped the ball in his dealings with the Rainbow Family by not requiring accountability from the group -- and by leaving local authorities out of the loop until it was too late, a Sublette County official says.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey's decision to allow the "Rainbow Gathering of Living Light" to assemble near Big Sandy without a permit, and without any substitute for planning and approval, has undercut the regional response to the event, said Joel Bousman, Sublette County commissioner. And it has "demoralized" local law enforcement.

Bousman said he is angry, both as a commissioner and as citizen.

"About six months ago, (Rey), for some reason, took it on himself to negotiate directly with the Rainbow group, but decided they did not need a permit or to do any planning with the Forest Service," Bousman said. "For some reason, Mr. Rey chose to circumvent the whole government process."

Rey's decision, which Rey said Thursday was an "experiment" to try to better protect the natural and cultural resources on public lands, has undercut the ability of the regional Forest Service, the BLM and local law enforcement agencies to organize for the safety of the Rainbows and area residents, Bousman said.

"It's not right," he said. "He left local people out of loop in the planning process, which puts us in a defenseless position to try and plan for what's going on at the last minute, with no notice, no planning and no permit."

The Rainbow Family has assembled on public lands every year, somewhere in the United States, since 1972, and the events occasionally draw up to 25,000 participants.

Sublette County has about 6,000 permanent residents, and currently has enough law enforcement to maintain the safety of its citizens, Bousman said. But now it's facing the sudden potential for 5,000 to 25,000 Rainbow participants flooding the county in the coming days.

Rey should have included the county in the process from the start, Bousman said.

"The ambulance services and health care services will be under stress, as well. The method chosen by Mr. Rey has totally cut out local government," he said.

The decision not to require the Rainbows to be accountable through a permitting process is also an insult to the Boy Scouts of America, Bousman said. That organization has been planning for years a large, educational project for hundreds of Scouts in the same area the Rainbows have lately chosen. The Scout project is scheduled to begin before the Rainbows will be finished cleaning up after themselves.

No final decisions have been made, but Bousman said it looks as if the Scouts might have to alter their plans for the project.

"It's not fair to the Boy Scouts. They did everything right. They admit they're a group. They played by the book -- yet they're going to be displaced. It's just plain not right," he said.

 

I’m receiving my transmissions from the Internet they are a small fraction of what going on in reality seems like the same transmissions you are receiving.
Just arm chair comments from the peanut gallery. I wasn’t at scout council or on site so I don’t know the details of it.

Yeah it is more “safe” to have a permit.

I’m with the crowd that believes sighing permits just leads to deeper government control, which means death of the rainbow.

Permits are usually followed by fees ect ..Just sign here it will all be OK… hmmmm how many times does it last like that.

The big sandy move seemed like it was conscious and branch off would be non-consensus. A permit being sighed for a non-concessions branch off gathering would seem like a wanna be leadership to me.

How can one person sign for the gathering? they can’t it bullshit…

 

The ATV story was uncool..

That has happened a lot here in Boulder County after the gatherings. We get “regional” gatherings and they set up at the entrance of forest roads and jump in front of people driving and demand they stop.
It makes a lot of people mad to have some guy with New Jersey plates tell them in their own back yard to “slow down” “do you have any____?” or what ever the latest A camp front gate bullshit is.

A lot of people around here are old hippies and let it slide but one of these time I’m sure they will run into the wrong guy and he will come back with enough people to match.

At least the article states it was one bad apple.

 

no the article states a member of the family said it was "one bad apple".

that is why the title is in quotes..

 

Oh.. miss read that one.. I have been known to be a thread skimmer.

I have been reading a couple of these articles in the Wyoming paper they have a comment section, some of the comments are kind of funny in a stupid redneck way.

 

oh wow,, i didnt browse those,,.. ill have to check them out..

i think someone on the land should do a editorial and at least attempt to shed a different light on the situation..

 

oddly enough id say the rainbows win in the comments department from what i seen..
i guess anti government outweighs dirty hippie in wyoming..

and it seems there are a few that have with issues with mr bousman,,lol....

 

Yeah, Wyoming does have a lot of self-sufficient folks who don’t trust the government. I think a lot of them don’t care for the hippies but realize they are just excursing their American rights.

A lot of Wyoming people deal with the FS and BLM a lot and can’t stand them…

 

The rule in Scouting being "You never cancel a campout."