National Rainbow Gathering – White Mountain National Forest

Rainbow Family gathering to occur on White Mountain National Forest

The incident is expected to peak in early July.

(Gorham, NH) June 14, 2023 – The Rainbow Family of Living Light plans to hold its’ 51st anniversary gathering on the White Mountain National Forest in the Kilkenny area of Coos County. The Androscoggin Ranger District, located in Gorham, NH, manages that portion of forest.

The incident will coincide with the Fourth of July holiday, and participants have already begun arriving. The Forest will experience the highest concentration of visitors to the incident during the first week of July.

The Rainbow Family is a loose-knit group of people from throughout the United States and other countries who gather annually on a national forest. Since the first gathering near Strawberry Lake on the Arapaho National Forest in Colorado in 1972, the incident has taken place on a different national forest each year. The incident is expected to draw around 5,000 visitors.

The USDA Forest Service has mobilized a national incident management team with experience managing these types of incidents. The team works closely with the local community, including law enforcement agencies, throughout the incident to protect the health and safety of everyone involved, and to lessen environmental impacts to the site by providing information and enforcing laws.

An incident of this size can have significant impacts on traffic, communities, local resources, residents, and visitors. Local businesses can expect to see large numbers of Rainbow Family participants visiting stores and buying food and supplies along routes to the incident location. Forest and local roads in the vicinity may become congested during the incident and road closures and/or traffic detours may occur.

“We understand nearby communities, local businesses and the public may have concerns about the potential impacts of a large gathering during the busy summer season,” said Derek Ibarguen, Forest Supervisor for White Mountain National Forest. “We are working with local communities, partners including other land managers, law enforcement agencies, and community health resources to minimize adverse effects to local communities and the environment as much as possible.”

The Forest Service requires a special use permit for every public group of 75 people or more conducting a meeting or event on National Forest System lands. The Rainbow Family has consistently refused to comply with the permit process during national gatherings. They claim to have no leaders and no one member of the group who can speak for them or sign a permit on behalf of the group.

The Forest Service will pursue getting a special use permit in place to address concerns about health and safety, watershed protection, natural resource protection and rehabilitation of the event site before the group leaves.

For more information about the 2023 Rainbow Incident, please visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/rainbowgathering.

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