Rainbows displace Boy Scouts

Casper Star Tribune ^ | 6/24/08 | CHRIS MERRILL

[jalisco555]

I am unable to link to the article. I keep getting an error page

Ditto.

[The Tin Foil Hat]

Here’s what everyones looking for:

http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/06/24/news/wyoming/doc4860f76bb014d334583272.txt

There was an added space in the URL

[girlangler]

I apologize for posting this in this form. I did the same thing accidentally a few weeks ago and several freepers were nice enough to show me how to straighten it up.

I have reposted it.

My point with posting this is the Rainbows are bringing in 25,000 people at one time, laying pipes, destroying no telling how much fawna and flora to build infrastructure for an entire city.

What do you think environmentalists would say if an Oil or gas company did this?

Be sure to read the sentence where the USFS guy said he gave the Rainbows plenty of time to reconsider the location.

So, we have a virtual “city” of people (I’d be willing to bet most of which claim to love the Mother Earth and want to save it) preventing the Boy Scouts from going in there and Really doing something beneficial for the forest.

Am I the only one that sees a double standard here?

What really ticked me off is right before posting this I just read about environmentalists suing to stop a gas pipeline in another public land out west that would impact a couple of square miles.

[Non-Sequitur]

Something ain't right with this picture.Grrrrrrrrrrr

Judging from the story it sounds like the hippies had the reservation first and that the Forest Service asked them to change their plans to accomodate the Scouts. And since people had already started showing up for their event, the hippies decided they couldn't change as such late date. Sorry, Scouts. The hippies have dibs on the site.

[quark]

Is it redundant to call hippies “dirty, smelly hippies?”

[Jonah Hex]

The Forest Service provided the Rainbow participants -- at the Rainbows' request -- with four sites that would have been suitable for the event at the end of March, Peters said, and his understanding was that they'd chose from among the four sites. The Rainbow Family instead chose Big Sandy, which was not on the list, he said.

Sounds more like the Rainbow folks did some claim-jumping.

[Non-Sequitur]

I haven't seen this bunch so I wouldn't know. But if you're going to blame someone in all this, blame the Park Service. They screwed up the scheduling, not the Rainbows or the Scouts.

[Non-Sequitur]

Rainbow participants had three or four meetings with Forest Service representatives after choosing the Big Sandy site, before the officials said anything about the Boy Scout conflict, he said. ''We never would have gotten in that position if the Forest Service had indicated from the get-go that this was not a workable site,'' Beck said.

Sounds like someone, somewhere approved their choice.

[Jonah Hex]

Sue Bradford of Missoula, Mont., who has been attending Rainbow gatherings since 1992, said Rainbow participants notified the Forest Service of the location they’d decided on, and were not told it was a ‘’bad’’ location until several days later, after it was already too late.

Sounds like the Rainbow folks assumed silence equaled consent.

[george76]

the Rainbows claim to be for the envirnoment, but are not.

They trash the public lands and the communities nearby. Not just drugs, but also tons of waste. The media is quiet as a fellow traveler.

Every year.

[fredhead]

I agree with the destruction that the Rainbows will (and probably already have) cause(d).

One of the creeds of the Boy Scouts is to leave an area better than you found it. When I was a Scoutmaster, the last thing i would have my Scouts do when leaving a campsite, was to check every square inch for anything that didn’t belong there. If we packed it in, we packed it out.

I would dread to see that place after the Rainbows get done, even after the cleanup.

[thulldud]

There’s been so many, songs about rainbows.

And about what's on the other side....

[MEGoody]

No reasons the Scouts and the Gathering can’t get along.

I suppose it has something to do with 20,000 hippies doing their 'things' while 5,000 Boy Scouts try to carry out a reforestation project in the same area. Wouldn't work very well.

[Redleg Duke]

> > It wasn't until after more than 200 people had gathered at the site and begun digging in kitchens and other infrastructure that the Forest Service told them, "This is a real problem,'' he said. > >

It seems that the Rainbow Family doesn't adhere to the "Leave no trace behind" philosophy of the Boy Scouts of America!

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Some background about Rainbow Family gatherings:

1) The US government, no way, no how, wants gatherings in national parks, ever. So they refuse to issue permits and make pretty ridiculous and expensive demands.

2) For their part, the RF response to the feds is to be as vague as possible about the location of their gatherings, until the last minute, when the word goes out indirectly.

3) The RF are very careful to *not* have leaders that can be, and will be arrested, because there is no way for the government to interact with a crowd. At the end of the gathering, an individual volunteers to drive the garbage truck, knowing that they will be arrested as a “leader” and can get up to six months in jail. He is a sacrifice to the government, and knows it.

4) Gatherings are subdivided into themed camps, which helps to keep the peace. For example, there is usually a camp just for heavy alcohol drinkers, which keeps them away from everybody else.

5) Individuals volunteer to be the equivalent of peacekeepers, carrying two way radios to keep things from getting out of hand. When there is a fight or attempted rape, or things like that, they yell out with a “Hey Rube!” type call. Participants then swarm the offender with a “group hug”. If they are violent, drunk, or deranged they may then be duct taped to a tree until they settle down.

6) Gatherings vary considerably in character. Some have problems with individuals who want to sell goods, or too many people who want things for free. Because individual decisions are frowned upon, often good ideas are ignored in favor of bad group decisions.

7) At the conclusion of gatherings, there are efforts to clean up the area, repair damages, and even to reseed ground with native plants.

8) Uniformed and undercover policemen do try to interfere at times, but are at a disadvantage because of the superior numbers of RF, so usually back off instead of making petty arrests. I have never heard of a large assembly of police assaulting a gathering.

9) Petty crimes in nearby towns and cities do jump up during a gathering, ranging from shoplifting to trespassing, as well as panhandling. Often the problem is water theft, if the gathering has no potable water on site.

There have been a lot of gatherings in past with little or no problem, and most of the time they are not reported in the news.

[Natchez Hawk]

Still confused about the article. Seems contradictory in places. I thought the service project began in late July and the gathering was over after July 4th. It seemed to say that only clean-up crews would be left after the gathering.

[devistate one four]

They’ve been to my neck of the woods twice. They stink. They sh^t in the woods(en mass). Woodstock all over again. Such a waste of humanity.
It seems they believe everyone owes them something, wether it’s a ride to the store or “are you going to the west” when you’re trying to pump gas and get surrounded.

[GSWarrior]

[bmwcyle]

Learn to format HTML.

[Rebelbase]

Years ago there was a Rainbow gathering WNC near the Smokies and large numbers of the participants came down with giardia from drinking local spring water.