Re: fwd from kzirk in colorado they are blockaded
- From: "HTFiddler" <htfiddler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 20 Jun 2006 21:57:39 -0700
http://www.steamboatpilot.com/section/frontpage_lead/story/37730
Article in today/Tuesday's Steamboat Pilot:
Concerns in the forest
Officers issue citations to Rainbow Family; fire a threat
By Dave Shively, Sports writer [Sports writer ... really?]
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Gigi, the self-appointed Rainbow Family of Living Light gatekeeper,
could do nothing Monday to stop the convoy of U.S. Forest Service law
enforcement sport utility vehicles from rolling down Forest Service
Road 505 to enter the Rainbow gathering's main camping area.
"They have been coming up all day since yesterday, in and out, with
mounted officers too," Gigi said before the 6 p.m. patrol that
immediately shut down the road into the gathering.
Routt National Forest supervising forester Kent Foster said a squad of
30 law enforcement officials was brought in from across the country to
prevent resource damage and enforce rules and regulations.
"Our biggest concern is fires," Foster said. "I checked things out the
other day; they have their own internal fire watch to check untended
fires, but I don't know how effective that is."
Michelle Sarubbi, a Forest Service law enforcement officer brought in
from California, explained the stakes at the forest service road block.
"This is dead serious. I've done way too many evacuations, and what
worries me is that there's only one way in and one way out," Sarubbi
said. "There's no other means for fire and rescue. If there's a heart
attack or stroke, your golden hour is gone."
Sarubbi said law enforcement teams moved methodically around campsites
in the morning to gauge fire pits' proximity to dead trees, whether
there was water and shovels nearby and to ensure that campers were
aware fires needed to be monitored continuously and completely
extinguished.
"If there's no fires or problems, then it's worth every word and every
second spent," Sarubbi said.
The timing of enforcement teams' fire checks coincided with a National
Weather Service Hazardous Weather Outlook Red Flag Warning issued
Monday for eastern Utah and western Colorado. According to the service
report, the combination of high temperatures, 30- to 40-mph wind gusts
and low humidity created "critical fire weather conditions."
Much of the Routt National Forest also is filled with the dry fuel of
dead trees affected by the pine beetle epidemic.
"There's an area stand that's 60 to 70 percent dead just east of where
they are, some folks are already camped there," Foster said.
Inside the gathering, Rainbow campers at the centrally located supply
site near the main water source were not concerned. Christopher and
Blackfoot, a holistic medicine man, were tending a fire they used to
boil stream water for portable use into "anything with a lid."
"We've got a shovel and a rake. I was here all last night watching (the
fire). The weather's not going to be bad," said Blackfoot, who has
attended and treated patients at Rainbow gatherings for 29 years.
"The law enforcement officers have been kind," Christopher said. "This
gathering's for everyone, even them. We all have to behave to get
along."
The cordial feelings may not last. Starting with Gigi, officers moved
into the gathering area Monday evening, issuing illegal-gathering
citations that require a mandatory summons before a federal magistrate.
The officers also applied notices to vehicles informing participants
they are in violation of federal regulations.
The Rainbow Family traditionally has resisted signing the Forest
Service's free special-use permit for groups of 75 members or more.
"They see the permit as a way for us to control them," Sarubbi said.
"The control is to protect the resources and to help them have a better
experience and a better forest when they leave."
The Forest Service estimates there are from 200 to 500 people at the
gathering, with a constant flow of participants driving and
hitch-hiking up to the forest roads north of Hahn's Peak Village.
<the end>
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