Wyoming ArrowCorp5 cancelled because of Rainbow Family

[ScouterJoe]

Below is a portion of a long article which goes into detail about the ArrowCorp5 project and puts Scouting and the Order of the Arrow in a good light. It's too bad that some disruptive back-to-nature types were so disorderly that the OA project was cancelled in order to keep the Scouts safe.

 

 

National Forest Service officials, surrounded and attacked yesterday in Wyoming with sticks and stones by 400 members of the Rainbow Family, were given reason to regret their decision to cancel a long-planned national service project by the Boy Scouts of America in favor of the unorganized annual gathering of hippies, anarchists and "free spirits" who commune with nature and each other.

 

According to a statement released by the Forest Service's Incident Command Team in Rock Springs, Wyo., officers patrolling the main meadow of the seven-day event held near Sandy Springs made contact with a man who fled and was later apprehended. A second Rainbow attendee was detained for interfering in the arrest.

 

As 10 officers began to leave the area with their suspects, they were surrounded by an estimated 400 members of the Rainbow Family. A request for additional officers was made.

 

"The mob began to advance, throwing sticks and rocks at the officers. Crowd-control tactics were used to keep moving through the group of Rainbows," the news release said.

 

When back-up support arrived, officers made five arrests. A government vehicle was damaged and one officer was treated for injuries at a local hospital and released.

 

"This lawless behavior is unacceptable and we will not tolerate it," said John Twiss, Forest Service director of law enforcement. "The safety of our employees, public and Rainbow participants is our number one priority, and we will continue to protect everyone on the national forest."

 

Full article at World Net Daily: http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=68868

 

So who is Rainbow Family anyway?

Their website: http://welcomehere.org/gathering_of_the_tribes/annual/

[infoscouter]

My understanding is that only a portion of this project has been affected by the Rainbow Family event. The portion of the ArrowCorp project that was to have taken place near the Rainbow Family location has been moved to another area of the forest.

[scoutmomma]

My understanding is that only a portion of this project has been affected by the Rainbow Family event. The portion of the ArrowCorp project that was to have taken place near the Rainbow Family location has been moved to another area of the forest.

 

 

Infoscouter is correct. The Bridger-Teton project of ArrowCorps5 has not been cancelled, as erroneously reported by WorldNet Daily. About 150 out of approximately 800 OA Scouts will be relocated to a different area, per the article below:

 

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

 

Yes, the WorldNet Daily's stories about this have put the Scouts and OA in a good light, but it is troubling that they continue to report that the entire Bridger-Teton project has been cancelled.

 

[Gold Winger]

"The Rainbow Family of Living Light, sometimes known as the "Rainbow Tribe", is an international loose affiliation of individuals who have a common goal of trying to achieve peace and love on Earth."

 

I guess that explains why they attacked a bunch of Rangers.

[FScouter]

Here's a letter from the supervisor in charge of the project from the Forest Service side. (from another Scouting forum)

 

Dear Steve,

 

Some of you may have become aware of a story that all or part of the Bridger Teton (BT) Service Project has been cancelled. I want to assure you that the Bridger Teton project is going forward.

 

Here is the situation. A group called the Rainbow Family decided at the end of May 2008 to hold its annual gathering in Wyoming - someplace in the Bridger Teton National Forest from July 1-7, 2008. During the first week of June, they announced that they would locate this year's gathering at the

Dutch Joe/Big Sandy area (DJ). The annual gathering of the Rainbow Family can number more than 10,000. As of last week, there were approximately 1,500 people already at the DJ location. The Forest Service communicated that there was a conflict in use of the area but the Family members were already moving into the area developing their kitchens, latrines, and infrastructure, etc. Discussions designed to get the Rainbow Family to move to one of the locations originally offered by the USFS were not successful. While many members of the Rainbow supported the move to avoid a conflict in use of the area, the group could not gain agreement among themselves to make the move.

 

The DJ is the same area where we were planning to conduct fence removal, habitat improvement and trail building - it was one of our two remote project locations. Our plan was to locate approximately 150 staff and participants at the Dutch Joe location. While most of the Rainbow group will be gone by the time we arrive in late July, the impact on the land and environment will not have had a chance to recover by the time we arrive.

 

After discussions with the Forest Service, I made the decision to seek an alternate project site rather than bringing our participants and staff into the Dutch Joe area following the Gathering. At this time, we will not be

conducting the project at the DJ location this summer.

 

In conjunction with the USFS, we have secured another beautiful area in which to provide service and the 150 participants and staff with a great experience and program. We will be removing fence and addressing a number of trail improvement projects near the Gros Ventre Wilderness area.

 

Rest assured our BT staff and our USFS partners are going to make the alternate project just as successful and meaningful as the DJ site. While the DJ site was beautiful, the Gros Ventre is a great site too. The location isn't as important as the service, leadership, program and fellowship opportunities ArrowCorps5 is all about. I look forward to seeing you and your contingent in a few weeks as we gather in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The 1,100 of us participating in the BT project will soon make history by completing our commitment to service in 2008.

 

Dan Segersin

Bridger Teton Incident Commander