Hundreds of modern-day hippies known as ‘Rainbow Family’ ordered to leave California forest — or face fines

Peace out!

Hundreds of modern-day hippies who form a commune known as the “Rainbow Family” are being kicked out of their campsites at a California national forest with the threat of fines and jail time.

The US Forest Service ordered about 500 of the permitless campers to leave Plumas National Forest within 48 hours on Wednesday or face a fine of up to $5,000 and/or prison time of up to six months, according to the vacate order.

The California eviction is the first time the Rainbow Family of Living Light — a loose-knit group of free-spirited people who gather to camp together in a different national forest each year during the first week of July — has been forced to end its annual camping tradition since its first gathering in 1972.

The free annual gatherings attract between 5,000 and 10,000 people each year.

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The group calls itself the “largest non-organization of non-members in the world” and as such, organizers do not get the required permits as they claim they do not have leaders to sign them on behalf of the group, according to the US Forest Service.

The leaderless commune then sets up a welcome tent, camping and social areas, parking areas, health care sites and several outdoor kitchens. The members develop water sources and dig trench latrines to use as bathrooms.

The Rainbow Family also designates different areas of the campsite for group gatherings, partygoers, families with children, women and men, according to the park service.

This summer’s camping event was expected to bring roughly 10,000 visitors to the Plumas National Forest, near Quincy in northern California — which officials said would overwhelm the area and its natural environment.

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Some 500 Rainbow Family members had already set up camp this week in an area near the Indian Creek Headwaters, about five miles north of Antelope Lake in the national forest.

The US Forest Service ordered the group to vacate “for the protection of natural, Tribal and cultural resources, concerns about fire danger, public health and sanitation, and upholding permitted special uses.”

The order went into effect Wednesday and is being evaluated daily to determine when it can be lifted.

“The Forest is concerned about the 500 plus individuals already dispersed camping in a concentrated area… There are existing and projected impacts on natural and cultural resources and other authorized uses,” Plumas National Forest Supervisor Chris Carlton said in a statement. “Our priority is maintaining public health and safety and the appropriate stewardship of public lands and natural resources.”

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Locals were not pleased by the late announced arrival of the band of hippies and fought against their stay in town, according to local reports.

Four tribes in the region, the Mountain Maidu, Paiute, Pit River, and Washoe, each wrote to the Rainbow Family asking them to reconsider their camping location, according to SFist.

And Lassen County Supervisor Jason Ingram had been fighting the incoming since he learned of it, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“As I’ve said from the beginning, my concerns with this gathering were always the illegality aspect, the
increased fire risk this would have created, the environmental impact, and the blatant disrespect shown to our local tribes,” Ingram said. “Events are fine, but not events that blatantly disregard the law and endanger our land and community fire safety.”

He celebrated the news of the commune’s first forced cancellation in over 50 years.

“I believe this is the first rainbow gathering event to be shut down, and you all had a hand in that,” Ingram said.

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