A Rainbow Family member flashes a peace sign during the group's 1997 national gathering at Indian Prairie, in the Ochoco National Forest near Prineville. The group could be returning to Central Oregon this summer.(Dean Guernsey / Bulletin file photo)

The Rainbow Family’s national gathering, which happens annually and typically attracts more than 20,000 people to public forestland for about two weeks in July, could be coming back to the Ochoco National Forest this summer for the first time in 20 years.

Online chatter — and concern — about the return of the Utopian lifestyle group to Central Oregon surfaced last week after a Crook County resident said she ran into several members of the group near Big Springs campground in the Ochoco National Forest.

“Are we ready for the Rainbow people?” Susan Puckett asked on Facebook, referring to those who follow the international group’s nonconsumerist, back-to-nature philosophy that can sometimes lead to disruptions in the communities it visits.

There were positive reactions to Puckett’s post, but several comments also brought up the Rainbow Family national gathering in 1997, which took place at Indian Prairie in the Ochoco, and recalled how the group’s lifestyle isn’t exactly a perfect match for Crook County.

“Time to get out the paintball guns,” one person responded.

Puckett told The Bulletin her encounter with the Rainbow Family members last week started when a multicolored bus — “it was psychedelic with chicken coops on top of it,” she said — pulled into the area where she was. About six or seven people with dreadlocks got off the bus and the smell of marijuana was heavy, she said.

“I should have taken a picture but I didn’t want to be rude,” Puckett said.

A woman with the group then explained to Puckett that the Rainbow Family was thinking of holding its annual gathering somewhere in the Ochoco National Forest, so they were scouting the area for good spots.

“They said they were looking for a big meadow to have their gathering in,” Puckett said. “They wanted a really big one to hold up to 50,000 people — it’s the national gathering, not one of the little ones.”

Regional gatherings of the Rainbow Family — the “little ones” Puckett mentioned — attract hundreds of people and are held in different places across the country. A regional gathering that took place in the Ochoco National Forest in 2007 brought about 350 people to Crook County. Patrick Lair, public affairs officer for the Ochoco National Forest, said that gathering “occurred without incident.”

It’s the bigger national gatherings that can create issues for locals and government agencies. Lair, who said the U.S. Forest Service has heard rumors of the group’s Oregon plans, said there’s a USFS incident management team that deploys every year to whichever forest the Rainbow Family announces it will gather at. He said the Rainbow Family doesn’t usually get a permit for its gatherings — required by the Forest Service for groups of 75 or more — so it can be difficult to adequately prepare for an influx of thousands of people.

“How do you deal with 20,000 people who just show up?” he said. “Whenever that many people come to an area and stay there, there will be impacts.”

According to a USFS report that examined the local effects of the 1997 gathering, the agency responded to 680 “law enforcement incidents” related to the Rainbow event. The report details “significant” drug use, shoplifting and robberies in the Prineville city limits, and altercations between attendees and locals, who don’t always appreciate what the visitors brought to town.

A flyer described in the USFS report sums up the conflict:

“A one page flyer was distributed by unknown subject(s) in Prineville, OR which invited kids and young adults to join in drinking of the nectar of the gods, nakedness, beauty, love and sharing along with a warning to anyone who tries to stop their recruiting would suffer their damnations,” the report states. “The flyer was signed ‘Rainbow News.’ It was disturbing to many residents of Prineville.”

The group, which doesn’t have a centralized leadership or an official website, has confirmed on Facebook the 2017 gathering will take place in Oregon, but a specific location has not been announced. Online rumors point to Southern Oregon or Central Oregon, but a final gathering site won’t be decided until mid-June or later.

Mike Ryan, emergency services manager for the Crook County Sheriff’s Office, said the agency is aware of the rumors about the group’s plans, but there’s not much that can be done.

“We don’t really know until they show up,” he said. “Usually they start showing up 10 to 15 days ahead of whatever they’re doing — that’s exactly how they work. A few people find a place and it gets on social media. There is no way to verify anything that goes on with that organization until they’re in your backyard. I wrote ‘5 to 25,000 people with a question mark’ and put it on the map with an arrow pointing to no area in particular.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7829, 
awest@bendbulletin.com

“How do you deal with 20,000 people who just show up? Whenever that many people come to an area and stay there, there will be impacts.”— Patrick Lair, public affairs officer for Ochoco National Forest