Hundreds of modern-day hippies camping in California forest ordered to leave 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.
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.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 fi...