This seems to be an annual thing they're dealing with, where the "Rainbow Family" organizes a group outing every year in a different piece of public land. Kind of like Burning Man, but without a permit.
The supervisor has closed off the entire area through an order. I suppose that would given them the authority to eject anyone rather than have people just claim they're day hikers.
An Unauthorized Noncommercial Group Use Incident (Rainbow Family Gathering) is occurring on the Plumas National Forest Mount Hough Ranger District approximately 5 miles north of Antelope Lake Recreation Area in Plumas County.
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.
The supervisor has closed off the entire area through an order. I suppose that would given them the authority to eject anyone rather than have people just claim they're day hikers.
