The “Welcome Home” sign is what Rainbow Gatherers look for when trying to find each year’s remote location on U.S. Forest Service land. Photo courtesy US Forest Service.

By Shannon Lukens.

UPDATE Saturday, June 25

There were more Rainbow People than community members at a Town Hall at the library in Steamboat Springs Saturday afternoon. Just a handful of people showed up. One was 30-year Rainbow attendee, Karin Zirk from San Diego, Calif.

The Rainbow Gathering is an annual event, July 1-7. This year is the 50^th anniversary. Over 10,000 people are expected up in northwest Routt County. It’s in Adams Park, which is near California Park. The U.S. Forest Service closed California Park this weekend, except for Routt County Road 80 that runs through it, to protect the animals there and natural resources. The forest service says there are already 1,500 Rainbows in Adams Park.

Here are more notes from the meeting at Bud Werner Memorial Library Saturday.

Regarding water, it is a big part of determining where the group locates each summer. There is a body of water in the Adams Park area. Val used to live in Steamboat Springs in the 80s. He now lives in Vermont. He helps with the water source for the camp by finding a spring or a creek. Then they roll out piping. This is from the headwaters of Adams Creek which has eight fingers. The pipes come down from the source to go to all of the kitchens at the camp. There are 42 entities of kitchens. Examples of kitchens are a pancake house, the Popcorn Palace (in the past but not this year), Bare Necessities, a bakery, pizza (for two nights), Krishna Kitchen with Indian food, Kosher kitchen, and mostly everything is vegan. Kitchen cooks make the food and bring it down to the main circle to feed people. Cooks make whatever they feel like making and whatever they have the ingredients for. In the recent Pennsylvania Rainbow Gathering, they had Fried Twinkies.

Lia said, “We are here to honor the earth and not to try to scorch it.” That’s regarding the kitchens which share information and work together.

Rainbow member Karen Zirk said that they heard Routt County Public Health wants to regularly come but they need an official invitation from forest service officers at the scene. They said Routt County Public Health was at the camp Friday and met with the Rainbow Gathering medical team. There are Rainbow Camp nurses and doctors.

Karin also said there are many wonderful people at the gathering but always with a few bad apples. She said if there are any troubled teenagers or young adults, they welcome them and show them how to run a good community. “We are trying to create the world the way you want it to exist.” She added, “Where my shortcomings are is someone else’s strength.”

Karin says the Rainbow Gathering brings healing, help, and hope. Those kinds of voices are always welcome. Listen from the heart. “The Rainbows welcome everyone with a belly button.”

Angie Gamble is a Rainbow from Steamboat Springs who helped organize the gathering. “Ideas are always welcomed at Rainbow.”

Those Rainbows at the meeting said visitors are encouraged to come and stay. Day visitors are always welcome. Lia is from Vermont and she said, “A lot of wonderful humans attend, who put a lot of energy into each camp.”

The loop around the camp is three miles. They are making a map. There is always a silkscreen person at the main camp July 1-7. People bring their shirts or clothing to that person and the Rainbow Gathering logo is silkscreened onto it.

UPDATE Friday, June 24  June 24 update from the US Forest Service

UPDATE Thursday afternoon, June 23

Members of the Rainbow Family have scheduled another Town Hall Informational Session. It’s from 2-4 p.m. Saturday in Library Hall at Bud Werner Memorial Library in Steamboat Springs.

Here’s the link to details from Wednesday night’s gathering in Craig.

USDA Virtual Meeting Presentation

UPDATE AT 3 p.m. TUESDAY, JUNE 21.

UPDATE AT 7: 15 p.m. Tuesday, June 21.

Here are a few notes from the USDA Forest Service meeting on Tuesday, June 21.

The site is 25 miles north of Hayden, off of County Road 80, through California Park to Adams Park. Most of the gathering is west of Routt County Road 80 on about 800-900 acres of land.

Public Information line is 970-364-2201. Email: SM.FS.RainbowIMT@usda.gov

There will be Resource Officers at the event to help. There is a Rehabilitation Plan. The Rainbow people do cleanup and have a Rehabilitation Crew. The Rainbow Gatherers dig latrines and then bury them when finished. They will make sure it all gets cleaned up and done before the Rainbows leave the land. The Rehabilitation in 2019 was very successful.

The Forest Service folks are working on a Resource Protection Plan. They’ll set guidelines on where camps and kitchens can be set up. Slit trenches for latrines need to be away from the water source. They talk about trash removal and rehabilitation of the site after the event. Law enforcement helps with all of this enforcement.

Russ Harris is the Incident Commander for the Incident Management Team that has been assembled. Safety and protection of natural resources is priority. They have a staff that has worked these events in the past. This is his fourth year working the event. Protection of resources is called a Design Criteria plan given to the Rainbows and they have to meet those standards as close as possible to be in compliance.

They are very good at rehabilitation. They leave folks back after it is over to work with the rehabilitation. The plan is always modified to the area.

The work in conjunction with law enforcement that is there. They make sure to leave the area as pristine as possible once the incident is over.

Law Enforcement Incident Commander is Ken Pearson, special agent in charge. He has a law enforcement team of about 40 sworn personnel.

He says that right now (Tuesday, June 21), there are 131 cars parked, 70 vans or RVs, three buses, and three motorcycles. That’s about 1,000 people on the ground.

Probably slightly ahead of what they have typically seen at this point in the gathering. More folks will be trickling in over the next week. By the following weekend, there will be a pretty big push of folks coming in. We’ll likely hit 10,000 or 12,000 or more participants before it is said and done.

He says they will have 24/7 coverage run in three shifts of law enforcement. This is uniformed patrol, along with criminal investigators, and K9.

One thing that is always a challenge is managing the parking. He says, “We’re in a good place right now.” He doesn’t see it as a major issue as long as they keep on top of it. All in all, things are going as well as expected from the law enforcement perspective. We are not endorsing it, but we are managing it as best we can.

USFS will share daily status updates, such as attendees. Also, safety information or changes, such as a closure order or fire restrictions.

Public Information line is 970-364-2201. Email: SM.FS.RainbowIMT@usda.gov

“We are here for the community. We want to make sure you have the information you need. Reach out if you have questions or concerns.”

Russ Bacon is the Forest Supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and thunder Basin National Grassland. He says:

The Forest Service has requested that this event apply for a permit. The Rainbow Family has consistently refused to apply for a permit because they claim that they have no leaders or organization. No one person can speak as an individual or on the behalf of the family. It is a difficult situation all around, plain and simple. Nothing about this event is authorized or sanctioned.

Fire ban? We take fire restrictions very seriously. In previous years, we have instituted fire restrictions. We work really closely with our partners on those decisions. We rely on solid environmental criteria to determine what those conditions are. We speak weekly with our neighbors, whether BLM or County Sheriffs officers. Right now, those conditions are not in place. If they do happen, we will work to move into fire restrictions as those conditions present themselves over time. We revisit that decision once a week. It is very possible that by the time this event hits its peak, we may very well be there. We will make this decision with our partners.

Jaime Statezny is the District Ranger for the Yampa Ranger District on the Medicine Bow – Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland.

This site would not have been a site that we allowed. Now we have to go out and do the best we can to come up with a Resource Plan and work with the Rainbow Family, and use law enforcement to enforce the plan. It’s the best we can do to protect the people at the incident, and those in the surrounding communities, and the natural resources. We will help with cleanup to make sure it happens. It isn’t easy. We would not have made the decision of having them in this spot.

Dogs on a leash? Ken Pearson is a regional patrol commander with the Forest Service.

In the general forest area, dogs are not required to be on a leash. But they are in developed campgrounds. But in general, on forest, they are not required to be on a leash.

Construction of infrastructure allowed? Some infrastructure is allowed as long as it is temporary and it doesn’t cause significant damage. If is to be long-term, it would require a permit.

Who does the clean up? Who pays?

From Russ Bacon, the Forest Supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and thunder Basin National Grassland. He says: Every one of these events is different. No clear answer of what things look like when all is said and done. Rainbow Family does a lot of work to rehabilitate their impact. But based on past experience from 2006 in Big Red Park (North Routt County), we know there will be extra work. US Forest Service officers will be addressing soil impact issues and revegetation.

We are going to build a plan that can respond to whatever we need to do to address those resource concerns. We did incur quite a bit of cost back in 2006 dealing with watershed concerns and compacting soil.

It’s hard to say what we will have to deal with when it is done. Same goes with impact of trash locally and dumping in other communities. We’re looking at options there to try to address them on the front end before everybody leaves.

Sandhill Cranes? California Park should be closed until July 1. Why is this open?

From Jaime Statezny, the District Ranger for the Yampa Ranger District on the Medicine Bow – Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland.

Many aspects of California Park are closed for elk calving and crane nesting. Level 2 roads are closed but RCR 80 is not a forest service jurisdiction road so it is a county road. We are looking at an area closure based on cumulative effects. We’re working on it right now. It isn’t our jurisdiction so we don’t have the ability to close the road. It would be the county.

Will the road to Hayden stay open? It’s hard to tell right now.

About the Rainbow People, here is Hilary Markin, the Public Information Officer for the event.

They are a group of loose-knit individuals who gather annually, to pray for world peace. Like-minded people who like to live off the land or live off the grid. There are also international Rainbow Gatherings. There are plenty of websites that provide information on what the Rainbow Family is all about.

Why can’t the event be shut down if it isn’t authorized? From Russ Harris, Incident Commander.

My experience the last three prior events, they did very well with managing their garbage, especially with not leaving it at the event. They bring it to several locations, and they typically recycle. When they come to an event, they try to bring as much materials as they can to utilize natural products, to avoid containers.

Russ Bacon adds, “In past years, we’ve tried to come at this from a lot of different directions whether it is siting individuals are getting permits. Balance of first amendment rights to peacefully assemble, to other rules and regulations. I wish I could say this was a simple answer that we could shut it down but it isn’t that easy. In light of that, we try to focus on the resource mitigation and health and safety protection with this gathering.

Will forest service officers rely on backup from local law enforcement. 45 forest service and 10-12,000 Rainbows is a fair ratio. If we do need back up, the local County Sheriff’s Department and Colorado State Patrol deputies will assist us. A number of deputies will be working the gathering along with us. With 10-12,000 people, we don’t have that many bad actors. Most will play by the rules. This isn’t our first rodeo. We’re prepared. If things get really bad, we certainly have backup.

Diverting water for drinking use and cooking?  Russ Bacon.

Definitely on our radar. Water rights and water quality. Working closely with state and county officials. Met today. Will address diversion. Same with water quality. Working with Routt County Public Health and state agencies to monitor quality and regularly testing water quality.

If medical is required, how will you provide? Ken Pearson…

We have been working with the county EMS folks. County has been discussing it with Rainbow folks, who have their own medical unit. There will be some medical event during the gathering. There is every year. We’ll help as escorts. Some of our folks are EMS certified. They can provide help until someone gets there. Then can help with transport to a rally point. If life flight is needed, our folks can coordinate that as well. There is a high likelihood that there will be a medical event at some point.

Russ Bacon:

Tap into the resources if you have questions. We want to endeavor to get the information out. We are working with state and local government to work through the challenging issues. No one entity is equipped to deal with an event like this. We are working together. We will mitigate the effects to the local communities as much as possible. None of this is ideal. This is not an event that we sanction or approve of in any way. Many of our partners feel the same way. Routt National Forest is a special place. The public lands they are choosing to gather on are very special from a resource standpoint. Our folks are committed to try to help with natural resources and mitigate the effects.

(STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.)  June 18, 2022 – The Routt National Forest invites the community to attend a virtual public meeting on Tuesday, June 21 at 6:00 p.m. to learn about the Rainbow Family Gathering occurring on the Routt National Forest.

The Rainbow Family of Living Light has selected the Adams Park area of northwest Routt County on the Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District for its 50^th anniversary gathering. The incident will coincide with the Fourth of July holiday, and participants have already begun arriving. The Forest will experience the highest concentration of visitors to the incident during the first week of July.

The Rainbow Family is a loose-knit group of people from throughout the United States and other countries who gather annually on a national forest. Since the first gathering near Strawberry Lake on the Arapaho National Forest in 1972, the incident has taken place on a different national forest each year. The incident is expected to draw around 10,000 visitors.

The USDA Forest Service has mobilized a national incident management team with experience managing these types of incidents. The team works closely with the local community, including law enforcement agencies, throughout the incident to protect the health and safety of everyone involved, and to lessen environmental impacts to the site by providing information and enforcing laws.

“We share your concerns regarding the incident affecting the surrounding communities and invite you to the public meeting to learn more about the gathering and how the Forest Service will be managing it,” said Russ Bacon, Forest Supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland. “We continue to work with our partners on minimizing effects to the communities and the environment as much as possible.”

An incident of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents, and visitors. Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the gathering site. Forest and county roads in the vicinity may become congested during the incident and road closures and/or traffic detours may occur.

The last large National Rainbow Family Gathering on the Routt National Forest was in 2006 in the Big Red Park area north of Steamboat Springs.

To join the public meeting please visit: https://bit.ly/3zKFn3i.

For more information about the 2022 Rainbow Incident, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/rainbowgathering.

UPDATE Sunday, June 19  Steamboat Radio reached out again to Hilary Markin, the Public Information Officer with the U.S. Forest Service, assigned to the Rainbow Gathering. She was worked the event for four years. We asked her some questions.

A petition has been started to ask that the Rainbow Family Gathering not be allowed to happen in Routt National Forest. Will this matter?

Keep Routt Wild set up a petition to stop the gathering in Routt County.

How many US Forest Service officers are on duty at the site? There is a National Incident Management Team with officers from across the country. They are there to address health and public safety risks and to minimize environmental impact with a law enforcement presence. They are there for the surrounding community as well. Fire resource personnel is also available.

Tell us about Handicamp. It is Handicamp and Elder Camp for those with limited mobility. Rainbows establish it for those who may need easier access. Rainbows eventually set up different camps for different groups so groups can choose which camp they want to associate with. Then everything else is in a meadow area which is about a mile walk off the road.

The gathering is about a mile hike off the road. Markin explains how the Rainbow Gatherers get from their cars to the gathering place in the meadow. They use wagons, carts, packs on their backs.

When will there be more activity in the area? It will start to pick up by the main gathering on July 1-7. People will be camping all around there and parking there, too. Law enforcement has been putting signs up to not park along the roads, to protect the resources.

A Rainbow participant named Thor invited us back at any time, and said others can visit. Does USFS PIO Hilary Markin recommend this?

This is Thor. He has been coming to the Rainbow Gatherings since 2014. He is a ski instructor from the Lake Tahoe area. He talks about the site in North Routt and what is special about the gathering. He says it is for the Prayer for World Peace on July 4th. He says to tell the local communities that they like to spend money in town. And everyone is invited to come up for a day or two. “Rainbow is like a little slice of America.” He says there are all types of human beings with all types of beliefs.

UPDATE Sunday, June 19, at 5 p.m.

UPDATE SUNDAY EVENING, JUNE 19  The site of the gathering is in a very remote part of north Routt County. The main gathering is July 1-7, but many have already started to arrive. One officer at the site guessed at 1,000 already there on Saturday. They are being directed to go to Craig and head north on Hwy 13 for 36 miles before heading back east into Routt County. Cars are parking in the grass along the road, and then it is just over a mile hike in to the meadow where they all gather.

Mo Demorat

Many federal and local law enforcement officers are on site. Firefighting crew were setting up No Parking signs along the road Saturday. Mo Demorat is also there with the Routt County Office of Emergency Management. He says they have activated an Emergency Operations Center.

UPDATE 11:45 a.m. Friday, June 17.  We were asked if Grand County said no to the Rainbow Gathering in their area. Steamboat Radio reached out to Christine Travis, the Communications Director for Grand County. Here is her reply. “Neither the County nor the Forest Service had anything to do with the Rainbow Family’s decision about where to hold this year’s Gathering.  While Grand County had been preparing for it (we were operating on an assumption that it may be held in Grand County as that’s where the first Gathering took place 50 years ago), the Rainbow Family hosts a council every year in mid June, and it’s their council that determines where the event will be held.  While we sympathize with our neighbors to the northwest, we didn’t have anything to do with the Rainbow Family’s decision.”

UPDATE: (4:40 p.m. June 16) LOCATION CHANGED TO CITY PARK IN CRAIG.  The Rainbow Family Gathering is hosting an informational session where they will answer questions. It is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 22 in the Craig Chamber building, which is at 775 Yampa Ave. in Craig. The public is invited.

UPDATE: (Noon, June 16, 2022) Steamboat Radio reached out to Hilary Markin, the Public Information Officer with the U.S. Forest Service, assigned to the Rainbow Gathering. She was worked the event for four years. We asked her the following questions:

Can people start a petition to get the Rainbow Gathering not to come? Markin explains the permitting process and how the event is not authorized on national forest land, which is open to the public. She explains how the Rainbow Gathering gets around this and how USFS still works with the event.

What if a fire ban or fire restrictions are in place? 

How can people find out information and get their questions answered? USFS knows some people will engage in unacceptable behavior. Their officers are prepared to deal with that by increasing law enforcement presence. The Incident Management Team will be working with other agencies in the area.   US Forest Service website on the Rainbow Gathering

Where is the gathering exactly? USFS is working on a traffic plan right now, to identify how the many vehicles will be parked and maintaining ingress and egress. They need to make sure emergency vehicles can get in to protect health and safety of visitors and the natural resources being impacted.

How many will be assigned to the Rainbow Gathering incident? There is not a specific number yet but there will be an increase of the number of people attending from the USFS. They will be there to address any health and public safety risks. Markin talks about the goal of the USFS with the Rainbow Gathering. They will be providing daily status updates of how many people are there, new closure orders, fire restrictions. All of that information will be on the website. Markin also explains how the event works and when the peak time will be for the gathering.

USForest Service Website on the Rainbow Gathering

Can this be stopped from happening? If not, why? Those visiting the national forest have to obey all federal, state, and local laws and regulations. They will have an increased law enforcement presence to minimize the negative effects to the local community, the environment, and the visitors.

UPDATE: (June 15, 2022)

Forest Service News Release

Rainbow Family gathering to occur on Routt National Forest

The incident is expected to peak in early July.

(STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.)  June 15, 2022 – The Rainbow Family of Living Light plans to hold its’ 50^th anniversary gathering on the Routt National Forest in the Adams Park area of northwest Routt County. The Hahns Peak/Bears Ears Ranger District manages that portion of forest out of the Steamboat Springs office.

The incident will coincide with the Fourth of July holiday, and participants have already begun arriving. The Forest will experience the highest concentration of visitors to the incident during the first week of July.

The Rainbow Family is a loose-knit group of people from throughout the United States and other countries who gather annually on a national forest. Since the first gathering near Strawberry Lake on the Arapaho National Forest in 1972, the incident has taken place on a different national forest each year. The incident is expected to draw around 10,000 visitors.

The USDA Forest Service has mobilized a national incident management team with experience managing these types of incidents. The team works closely with the local community, including law enforcement agencies, throughout the incident to protect the health and safety of everyone involved, and to lessen environmental impacts to the site by providing information and enforcing laws.

An incident of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents, and visitors. Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the gathering site. Forest and county roads in the vicinity may become congested during the incident and road closures and/or traffic detours may occur.

“We understand there are concerns about the impacts to nearby communities, businesses and our neighbors,” said Russ Bacon, Forest Supervisor for the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland. “We have already begun working with our partners to minimize any negative effects to local communities and the environment as much as possible.”

The Forest Service requires a special use permit for every public group of 75 people or more conducting a meeting or event on National Forest System lands. The Rainbow Family has consistently refused to comply with the permit process during national gatherings. They claim to have no leaders and no one member of the family who can speak for the group to sign a permit on behalf of the family.

The Forest Service has periodically cited Rainbow Family members for failing to obtain a permit. However, in the interest of public health and safety, the Forest Service puts together a resource protection plan including specific design criteria to ensure sensitive resources are protected, environmental damage is minimized, and it stipulates post-event clean-up and rehabilitation of the incident location – conducted by the Rainbow Family.

The resource protection plan for the incident will address concerns about health and safety, watershed protection, natural resource protection and rehabilitation of the event site before the group leaves.

The last large National Rainbow Family Gathering on the Routt National Forest was in 2006 in the Big Red Park area north of Steamboat Springs.

For more information about the 2022 Rainbow Incident, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/rainbowgathering.

-USDA-

The Rainbow Gathering has announced that they will hold their 50^th Anniversary gathering in Routt National Forest. It could be 10,000 people camping in rural and remote North Routt County, July 1-7.

It was announced today (Tuesday, June 14) on a Rainbow Gathering Facebook post that they’re actually “outside of Craig.” But Aaron Voos with the U.S. Forest Service says the gathering is California Park, which as 10-15 miles west of Clark and Hahns Peak, on U.S. Forest Land in Routt National Forest.

“Still a lot to be determined about what’s actually going to happen.”

Voos says the event is not authorized or permitted. Those attending the Rainbow Gathering just spread the word and all show up each year, wherever it may be. They’re all given directions and told to look for the “Welcome Home” sign. Voos says U.S. Forest officials are aware and they will work with the group as best as they can.

“One thing we have in our favor is that the Forest Service works with this group annually. We have a lot of law enforcement and folks on our incident management team that are very familiar with it. So we are able to bring those folks in to assist us. They will also be assisting Routt County in that.

Voos says they’ll keep the public informed with a Forest Service website set up just for the gathering. It’s July 1-7 but those attending usually show up a few weeks before, which would be now. The U.S. Forest Service website says, “An event of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents and visitors. Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the gathering site. Forest and county roads in the selected area may become congested during the incident and road closures and/or traffic detours may occur on the selected National Forest.”

And then there’s the fire danger. Here’s Aaron Voos again.

“Fire danger is definitely something that we will be keeping tabs on.”

Routt County Undersheriff Doug Scherar says all Routt County departments will be aware, including the Routt County office of Emergency Management.

“We are going to meet with emergency management and with some other county departments as well as the forest service just to come up with a plan to be able to respond in case we have any medical incidents or law enforcement incidents.”

Scherar says Steamboat Springs residents should expect a big influx of people in Steamboat Springs headed to the gathering, and then leaving the gathering when it is over.

In an article from the Denver Post, it says the Rainbow Family of Living Light is a “sect of hippies that say they stand for peace and love.” The Rainbow people were last in Colorado in 2006, when they set up camp in North Routt County near Clark.

The Colorado Sun is reporting that 30,000 people could attend the 50th Anniversary Rainbow Gathering. Link to article

• Rainbow Family Gathering website
• US Forest Service website on the Rainbow Gathering
• Denver Post article from March 31, 2022
• Colorado Sun article on April 1, 2022
• Blog on Rainbow Gathering
• 2022 Colorado Rainbow Gathering Facebook page has 4.8K members

From the Rainbow Gathering Website: