Hippie Infestations!

An annual Hippie gathering in the Routt National Forest in Colorado is again under pressure from Federal Forest Service officers as well as state police and county sheriff's deputies. The founder of the annual gathering of the group, known as the Rainbow Family wants to organize a Federal lawsuit over the crackdown.

Barry Adams, known in the Rainbow Family as Barry Plunker, told a council circle at the first day of this year's weeklong gathering at Routt National Forest that federal pressure has gone too far.

Dozens of Forest Service officers, county deputies and Colorado State Patrol officers are manning checkpoints and patrolling camps as thousands of hippies flood the forest about 30 miles north of Steamboat Springs.

Under federal rules, any gathering of more than 74 people in a national forest requires a permit. Officials have said that in a fire, the narrow dirt access road would become clogged and campers would be trapped.

The clash between Rainbows and federal officers at national parks has become such an annual tradition that the Forest Service in 1998 established a national response team to deal with the group. Members defying federal orders typically are issued citations for camping illegally.

Rainbows say this year federal officers are issuing hundreds of citations and set up a makeshift federal courthouse nearby.

"There's only one way to stop these people and that's to take them on, legally," Adams told about 100 Rainbows at the council circle.

Rainbows say they have no leaders to request permits, and they shouldn't have to beg to express a constitutional right to freely assemble.

The Forest Service estimated that by Friday night about 6,000 tie-dyed hippies were camping in makeshift villages. That number swelled dramatically Saturday, the first official day of the gathering. An updated official estimate was not available.

Rainbows formed drum circles, exchanged beads, batik and crystals, and lined up at communal kitchens for meals. Everything is free, from meals to yoga classes to massage. Hugs are doled out at every turn and members greet each other by saying, "Welcome home."

Adams/Plunker, who is 61 years old, is apparently a real, live original hippie. There is no indication of how many of the people gathering are genuine hippie specimens and how many are newly minted. The mental image of a sea of tie-dye bearing the aroma of Ben-Gay rather than incense comes to mind, though. Frankly, the hippies don't seem to appreciate the fact that the authorities have a genuine concern here. A fire would be a disaster given the limited access.

Nonetheless, Blue Crab Boulevard, always ready to help with good advice, has the solution for the Forest Service! It's quite simple; all they have to do is install a few scarecrows.

Feel free to mail in the consulting fee!

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  By crabpot, July 25, 2006 @ 11:17 am

  no one mentions these “friends of the Earth” have been documented to cause environmental disasters in their wake – piles & piles of stinking rubbish & water sheds contaminated with Camphylobacter, Shigella & other enteric pathogens (eg. fecal bacteria) requiring closing of these areas of National Forest for years to allow the environment to recover – yeccch! Where’s PIRG & the Sierra Club when you actually need them? These “Rainbow People” are environmentally worse than commercial pigfarms – but anyone addressing their filthy ways? As a person raised camping, fishing & hunting, I find the gross disregard for the environment demonstrated by these “enlighteneds” to be laughable and, at the same time, very sorry. Hope the Forest Service employees photodocument before & after the drum circles (paauugh) clear out. No doubt we’ll be able to find the location by the smell alone.

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1. Blue Crab Boulevard » Blog Archive » Coulrophobia — July 8, 2006 @ 11:41 am