It looks like White Pine county will play host to 25,000 or so often naked flower children this July for the 43rd annual Rainbow Family Reunion in the beginning of July according to the groups ‘unofficial’ website.
According to scouting maps on the Family’s unofficial Facebook page all four of the sites set to be scouted for the reunion are in White Pine County.
Established in the early 1970’s the Rainbow Family is loose connection of hippies and other counter culture types that meet annually in a national forest somewhere in the United States in the beginning of July. According to rumors on the groups unofficial Facebook page this years gathering will be held in either Utah or Nevada. The last “Family” gathering in Utah was in 2003 near American Fork in the Ashley National forest. The last time the Rainbows came to eastern Nevada was over a decade ago at the Great Basin National Park and the last time they ventured into Elko county was 25 years ago to the Jarbidge area.
“I really hope the decide on Baker,” said Border Inn owner Denys Coyle. “They are mostly very nice and polite people. Heck if they do come I just might leave with them.”
The Rainbows complained that they were harassed and so shabbily treated by Elko county law enforcement that they would never return a promise that then Sheriff Jim Miller greeted with joy.
Deputies reported several drug related arrests and confiscated small amounts of marijuana, black tar heroin, hallucinogenic mushrooms and other controlled substances during the 10 day long event. However for a gathering of well over 10,000 people there were virtually no reports of any crime either at the site in Jarbidge or from the nearby towns Rainbow Family members passed through on the way to and from the site.
The same was true of the Gathering held some 15 years later at Great Basin.
Despite the lack of violence, the Gatherings have not been without controversy.
According to the wikipedia report, the environmental impact of the Rainbow Family is often significant, easily overwhelming the meager resources available at most National Forest campgrounds. Members of the Rainbow Family have previously used nearby medical facilities and have left significant bills unpaid, as well as costing local animal control agencies who treated parvovirus amongst the dogs at the Rainbow Gathering in 2006. Though the Rainbow Family removes its trash after a gathering, the Forest Service has criticized their cleanup efforts as being only “cosmetic” and “not rehabilitation by any stretch of the imagination.” Cleanup crews have had to bury compost piles and cover fire pits.
However the Rainbows received high marks for their clean-up efforts after the Utah Nationals in 2003. “The Rainbows did a good job of cleaning up the site and following through with their commitments to restore the site,” stated Stephen Ryberg, district ranger for the forest’s Evanston and Mountain View districts. “Things went well from a resource standpoint.”
Summit County health officials also had a positive assessment of the site, said Bob Swensen, environmental director for the agency.
“My opinion is, it looks as if no one had been there,” Swensen concluded. “I’d have to give them an ‘A’ for their cleanup.”
In Montana in 2000, then governor Marc Racicot declared a “state of emergency” because of the alleged coming environmental destruction of the Rainbows on the National Forest. A year later, Dennis Havig, the District ranger from the nearby town of Wisdom, commented that “There were 23,000 people here and you can find virtually no trash. There’s an aspect of diminished vegetation, but you’d have to look hard to see the damage. The untrained eye isn’t going to see it.”
At the California National Gathering in 2004, in Modoc County, after public health officials reported speaking with their counterparts in Utah, opted to take preventive measures apart from law enforcement, which the Utah individuals found to be the source of many of the problems encountered at their event. The Public Health Department reported that the Forest Service officers were observed being confrontational and antagonistic towards the Rainbows at the Gathering site, which “did not facilitate a cooperative response from the Rainbows,” the report states. “The explanation that was given is that this was an illegal gathering because no permit had been signed. However, even after the permit had been signed, this attitude was unchanged.”
In addition to conflicting reports concerning clean-up after the event the biggest complaint against the Rainbows is one from merchants who operate near the parks over the dearth of spending from the Rainbows.
Money is not used (or not encouraged) at the gatherings and camps set up kitchens to feed people wither free of charge or in a barter system.
The only other complaints at least from the Jarbidge and Great Basin gatherings came from other tourists some of whom found the casual nudity encouraged at the gatherings disconcerting.
I think the title of this article is a complete mistake. This is an amazing group of people and to have it quickly marginalized by a headline like this says more about your psyche and less about the true nature of these people. Hopefully in the future if you feel compelled to comment on this event it will be in a fair and balanced manner. Using vitriolics to sell papers is not only bad Karma, it’s just bad journalism. Love your paper.
since spring council has not yet occured this post is quite speculative… but I like the article… encourages people to show up and get naked 😀
I’ve been gathering since 1978 and the only prolems The rainbow Family Of Living Light has ever had was LEO’s[Law Enforcement Officers] as they have been signing out the rainbow Family[short name] since 1972 in harassing kind peaceful folks just wishing to go Home as it called to Pray for One World Peace Love & Healing, in a sent it is the X-mass mass to pray. Now we do not see the LEO harassing folk that go to church on X-mess mass, so why is it ever year the rainbow Family has to put up with being harassed just to pray for world peace~! Any civil right lawyers out the reading this like a sure wining case? As I am sure that using the LEO past records of what they have paid out in over time[tax payers funds] would surely show that the LEO have been signaling out these group of peaceful folks since then..? what the government and folks do not want one world peace and love? In the times we are in now days it seems this is the only direction for humanity to go after they’ve tried war we see where this has gotten us no where.. Luvin U all
I encourage everyone to watch this professional documentary on the Rainbow Family
We Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wu4H-d_kAI
One more thing; DON’T BELIEVE IT scouts are just scouting way to early to say family is going there cause nothing & no site will be picked till after spring counsel June 14th at a location as yet to be posted! YOU WILL BE SENDING FAMILY THERE WHEN IT NOT GOING TO BE THERE AND THIS ARTICLES THOSE WHO WROTE IT HAVE NO CLUE HOW RAINBOW DO THINGS~! Just Sayin what I’ve learned.. Like to know when get up dates here is where to get those: https://www.facebook.com/groups/184801984893721/
Hi. This is a great article that quotes well known sources and strives to show various points of view. Thanks for that. However, there are two major factual errors…
First, the gathering proper is seven days long (July 1-7). Some people do show up early to set up and stay late to clean up but they are typically on site for longer than ten days. Calling it a ten day event is not correct.
Second, claiming that there are only four potential sites and that all of them are in white pine county is absolutely false. I am one of the people who has volunteered to check out sites this year. I’ve checked a lot of potentials and haven’t even gone to your county. That’s not to say that someone hasn’t (or won’t), but speculation is unrealistic before June 14, which is the date that a public council will begin the process of site selection. For the most part, people talking about possible sites on the internet lack the facts known by those of us who are actually walking them, and basing a conclusion on their opinions is not logically sound.
“Cleanup crews have had to bury compost piles and cover fire pits.” What the author failed to say was that these cleanup crews are RAINBOW family that stay after the event to finish covering up things that are in use while the main event is going on. Rainbow cleanup crews do amazing work. Obviously there are going to be some signs that people have been to an area. That is the case anywhere, but when you consider how many people and the fact that no one is paid to cleanup, well, it’s really quite amazing. And I do thank you for including the quotes that are evidence to that.
However, the title is sensationalizing and dismissive. As the picture above shows, most rainbow family don’t go around naked. Nudity is something that is generally well accepted, but it’s not like it’s a nudist group. And nude people aren’t going to be running around in local towns. Also, it’s horde, not hoard for a large group of people. But considering the connotations, I still think it’s a poor choice for a group of people from around the country peacefully assembling in the woods to pray for peace and work on bettering society.
In any case, the commenters above are correct saying that the site has not been narrowed down to those four spots. In fact, it may not be held in Nevada at all. We’ll find out in a few weeks. Wherever the spot is, I look forward to bringing some good vibes and reuniting with a lot of great people. The gathering really is a great event and I hope peace loving locals will come out and see what it’s all about (though hint: come further into the woods).