A colorful past: The history between the Forest Service and the Rainbow Family has been rocky

It’s a daunting task under usual circumstances: Bring as many as 20,000 people to a remote spot in the forest where they will set up a small city of camps, kitchens, fire pits, churches and latrines — all without running water or basic sanitation. Now try it with a group that has no centralized governing body and a long tradition of bucking authority. That’s what the Rainbow Family of Living Light has undertaken in Skookum Meadow, a place deep in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest where it will host its annual national gathering. In a spectacle that recalls the 1960s peace movement, between July 1 and 7, as many as 20,000 Rainbow members will pray for peace, dance, drum and share food, dope, stories and smiles. Rainbow Family members call it a return to the land. Hundreds of these nomads are already making preparations in the meadow, about 16 miles east of Mount St. Helens. The Rainbow Family has been hosting similar gatherings in U.S. national forests since 1972. With each year, the Rainbows’ arrival fascinates, startles and even frightens the small communities — in this case, Cougar and Woodland — on the edges of the nation’s federal forestlands. Dreadlocked kids, some as pungent and scraggly as the dogs they bring with them, have been trickling through Woodland. A good number of them are panhandling on street corners. Rumors are already running wild of disorderly behavior, although Woodland authorities say there have been no major problems...more