>Craig's criticism of Rainbows doesn't square with reality
>By Jon Marvel..
>
>"The recent Reader's View in the Idaho Statesmen by Sen. Larry Craig
>attacking the Rainbow Family gathering prompted me to make a trip to cache
>and sack creek meadows on Sunday July 1, 2001 to see for myself what our
>senior senator is so concerned about.
>Once my family and I had passed through the gauntlet of crisply uniformed
>and heavily armed Forest Service law enforcement officials in their massive
>sport-utility vehicles, we hiked for about 15 minutes over a small ridge to
>the main encampment of the Rainbow Gathering in the mile-long meadow at
>Sack Creek. We encountered friendly, smiling Rainbow people welcoming us
>home as we walked toward the Tipi circle Where friends had established
>their camp.
>As we crossed Sack creek on a handmade pole bridge, my leashed dog jumped
>into the creek to cool off from the very hot day; Immediately, two or three
>Rainbow Family people approached me and asked that I please take my dog out
>of the creek to protect the salmon. On each side of the creek crossings at
>both cache and sack creeks, Rainbows had placed containers of water
>expressly for pets so that no dogs would need to drink directly from the
>creek and possibly disturb the salmon fish habitat. All of our encounters
>with rainbow people were friendly and welcoming, and in several places in
>the encampment there were signs asking all present to be careful and
>protect the fisheries and streams from damage.
>Throughout the meadow the historic and recent signs of degrading cattle
>impacts were clearly evident in the overwidened streams, broken banks, and
>entrenched cattle trails. Cattle had been due to enter this area on June
>27, but thankfully they were delayed because of the Rainbow gathering. I
>note that Craig failed to mention that the permitees on this grazing
>allotment (Bear Valley Allotment) are scheduled to receive up to $300,000
>from BPA this year to retire grazing permanently from the Bear Valley.
>To me, two things are clear: The impacts of the Rainbow gathering will soon
>be gone, but the lingering and heavy impacts of live-stock use on millions
>of acres of Idaho's public lands will persist.
>Perhaps the Forest Service SWAT team could turn their expensive efforts
>toward enforcing grazing permit violations, which usually go unpunished
>across our state. While many of the Rainbow people wore colorful,
>unconventional or minimal clothing and sported tattoos or body piercings,
>nowhere did I see the 'mob' behavior described by Craig. Instead, what my
>family and I saw was a large group of generous, warm-hearted individuals
>bartering small stocks of goods, playing music and enjoying music along
>with impromptu stagings, and meditating on the beauty of the natural world.
>All in all, it became absolutely clear to me that Craig's description of
>the Rainbow gathering was very very far removed from reality; so far, in
>fact, that perhaps some form of counseling might be appropriate for our
>senior senator.
>While many of the Rainbow people at the gathering are seeking to heighten
>their consciousness through music, movement and other natural means, there
>is no doubt that it is not the Rainbow people, but our own curious senator,
>Larry Craig, who is living in a dream world. "

Before you bash Sen. Craig to hard, understand that his emotions and perspective are based on 20 years of infamous, UNREGULATED rainbow gatherings. Their past has not always been the rosy picture you witnessed. You saw the new and improved version of the gathering because the responsible citizens of the Pacific northwest got them to pull their heads out of their asses and take some responsibility for past irresponsibilities.

Frankly, I find it refreshing to see a politician take notice of an action that has been a scar to society and the landscape for a long time.

I am pretty sure that you have no idea who Jon Marvel is. That said, I can tell you that I have no problems with him or his agenda. However, he paints a rosey picture in an attempt to dis-credit Larry Craig. Don't get me wrong, Larry is a horses ASS, he can do that all by himself. Back on subject.. They turned Sack meadows into a bare dirt parking lot.. they panhandled all over the state on their way there and and their way home. . One thing is clear, they don't really care about the enviroment and for them to say they do is total crap. They did pick up trash, I'll give them that much. And I don't think that a lot of them felt very good about the "karma" of the location as a whole. Anyway, if you love the rainbows so much, let them have next years acid trip in your yard.

I've got a few questions. They may seem stupid, but I think that they have merit. How many "Rainbow People" (Ugh! Even the name wierds me out) go to these gatherings? 1000? 10,000? 20,000? Are there "Sanitary Facilities available? I mean, I can't imagine that a bunch of Half-Baked Ex-Dead Heads could come up with the money get a feww hundred Sani-Cans trucked in and serviced. Sooooooo, That brings me to the question: Where do they all $hit? Seriously, Do they $hit just wherever? Do they dig little holes to $hit in? I think I heard mention of them digging a big trench and then just $hitting in that. If that's true, then doesn't all that crap just leach down through the ground, into the water table, and then eventually into the Creek........Where the endangered Salmon are trying to spawn!!!!! I don't know, it's just a thought.

Your a genius ZOZO!

Maybe they've moved from acid to ecstacy which is why he was greet'd with such a warm welcome and also probably why they "cared about the salmon" for a weekend. Course, that's only speculation.

Hey ZoZo, Sounds like Rainbow valley on Little Rock Rd. before the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force shut them down??? Anyway here was their gig. They (Hippies, druggies, tree huggers, greeners and partiers in general) would converge on Rainbow valley during major holidays. The largest were labor day and the fourth of july. The gatherings would be entitled peace fest or peace gatherings. During these gatherings usualy a couple thousand people would converge in this little swampy valley near Little Rock WA and have these three day festivals. Here was the problem they were doing it in protected wetlands, county taxpayers had to pick up the bill for fire and police services and ther was no parking. I remember seeing cars parked along Little Rock Rd. for at least Ten miles. These festivals were supposed to be Alcohol and drug free but were dope and acid festivals. The owners of the property would search the people on the way in, confiscate their drugs and alcohol, then resell it inside the party for a big profit. Thats the Rainbow valley story sounds like the same people to me..

[ 07-24-2001: Message edited by: Ihookum ]

Eric: (IHOOKEM) Remember.... I'm also from Rochester, so I know all about Rainbow Valley. It wasn't that many years ago that I myself was a rebelous youth and I must admit, I visited Rainbow Valley once or twice myself. Everthing you said is true. The old guy who owned the place must've been making a fortune! Gideon Isreal, I think was his name. Anyway, if you ever saw the place after one of his "Gatherings" you'd know the place was trashed! Yeah, they were a bunch of junkies out there, and yeah, They were doing all of the things you said they were. It's sort of funny, I went out there a couple of times when I was a kid, and that was all fine and well, but now that I have a few kids of my own, I'm sooooo happy that the police finally shut that $hithole down! There' no way I'd want my kids exposed to that kind of behavior! They really were a blight on Thurston County and I'm glad that they are gone.

The way some of you are sounding I suppose we should ALL start strapping port-a-potties to our backs when we go out
fishing along the banks of the river for the day...

You know I hippie toss as much as the next Alabamian, but for their fecal matter to get into the river and someone be really concerned, don't the rivers re-purify themselves every 10 feet out here? Granted, for some impurities it would take longer.

Rainbow Valley. I can't resist gandering out there and looking at the buses and going "Damn hippies." It's too classic to pass up the opportunity.

Now, Superfly, tell us some of your outrageous Rainbow Valley stories. I know you have got to have one or two

Try a depends. You can load your waders while not giving up your spot on the river. Go in the woods, put it in a ziploc, slide on your drawers, and hit the road. Maybe I should be a rainbow. Sounds like my idea of fun.

The Whole thing with Hippie $hit getting into the rivers was just one of my pointless ramblings and was never meant to be taken so seriously That being said, it was meant to show the irony in the situation.... A group of people who are sooooo concerned with the Endangered Salmon that they won't even let their dogs drink from the creek for fear of them somehow interferring with the Salmon, turning around and basically putting their own feces into the same system they are so concerned about. Granted, One, ten, or even 50 people ****ting by the stream probably won't do any real damage, but 20,000 people $hitting by the stream, well that might be a different story.... Anyway, like I said, it was just a thought

its the countless cows that **** in that stream and virtually every other stream in the West for that matter that is the real problem - not to mention the bank and stream bed damage they do - he I'm all for eating cows - but keep them out of the water -

TAGNOOK GO AWAY!!!! YOU HAVE YET TO HAVE ANYTHING THAT'S WORTH POSTING ....YOU SHOULD HAVE LURKED AROUND THIS SITE LONGER BEFORE POSTING THIS CRAP ABOUT THE RAINBOW PEOPLE... THATS JUST MY OPINION