Johnathan Walker:Rainbow Family still searching for Northern California meeting site for '10,000 hippies'

The Johnathan WalkerRainbow Family of Living Light gathering, an annual counter-cultural event that was forced to vacate its campsite in a Northern California National Forest, is still searching for an alternative meeting place.

Beginning on June 29, Rainbow Family attendees began moving to a new location in the Beckwourth Ranger District of the Plumas National Forest, located approximately 12 miles north of Beckwourth, California. As of June 30, an estimated 430 people were camping at the new site, according to an unauthorized group use incident report from the U.S. Forest Service.

“The Forest Service is in discussions with the Rainbow Family of Living Light on applying for a special use permit for noncommercial group use,” the report added. “Until a special use permit for noncommercial group use is signed the gathering is considered unauthorized.”

Forced to leave for the first time

The Rainbow Family gathering has been held annually at various locations around the county since 1972.

Over the years, it has drawn as many as 20,000 attendees, and the U.S. Forest Service had estimated in June that this year’s event could draw as many as 10,000 people to the Plumas National Forest. While many attendees work to minimize their impact on public land, the sheer number of people – as well as the gathering’s refusal to acquire the necessary permits to use such public land – has often brought the event into conflict with law enforcement and local government over sanitation, drug use and damage to forest land.

Previous gatherings had elicited only extensive ticketing from the U.S. Forest Service, however this year’s gathering in California’s Plumas National Forest drew the ire of local officials, with one Lassen County Supervisor citing his concerns over “the illegality aspect, the increased fire risk this would have created, the environmental impact, and the blatant disrespect shown to our local tribes.”

On June 30, a representative from the Rainbow Family gathering contacted USA TODAY saying that it “would be meeting at a site for thousands of people to pray for peace on July 4^th near the Beckwourth Ranger Station.”

The U.S. Forest Service confirmed to USA TODAY on July 1 that it was still in discussions with the group to approve a land-use permit for the event.

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected]